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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:35:18 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10828-0.txt b/10828-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a264824 --- /dev/null +++ b/10828-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10124 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10828 *** + +ROMAN HISTORY + +By + +Titus Livius + + +Translated by + + +John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb + + +With a Critical and Biographical Introduction and Notes by Duffield +Osborne + + +Illustrated + +1904 + + + +LIVY'S HISTORY + +Of the lost treasures of classical literature, it is doubtful whether +any are more to be regretted than the missing books of Livy. That +they existed in approximate entirety down to the fifth century, and +possibly even so late as the fifteenth, adds to this regret. At the +same time it leaves in a few sanguine minds a lingering hope that some +unvisited convent or forgotten library may yet give to the world a +work that must always be regarded as one of the greatest of Roman +masterpieces. The story that the destruction of Livy was effected by +order of Pope Gregory I, on the score of the superstitions contained +in the historian's pages, never has been fairly substantiated, and +therefore I prefer to acquit that pontiff of the less pardonable +superstition involved in such an act of fanatical vandalism. That the +books preserved to us would be by far the most objectionable from +Gregory's alleged point of view may be noted for what it is worth in +favour of the theory of destruction by chance rather than by design. + +Here is the inventory of what we have and of what we might have had. +The entire work of Livy--a work that occupied more than forty years +of his life--was contained in one hundred and forty-two books, which +narrated the history of Rome, from the supposed landing of Æneas, +through the early years of the empire of Augustus, and down to the +death of Drusus, B.C. 9. Books I-X, containing the story of early +Rome to the year 294 B.C., the date of the final subjugation of the +Samnites and the consequent establishment of the Roman commonwealth as +the controlling power in Italy, remain to us. These, by the accepted +chronology, represent a period of four hundred and sixty years. Books +XI-XX, being the second "decade," according to a division attributed +to the fifth century of our era are missing. They covered seventy-five +years, and brought the narrative down to the beginning of the second +Punic war. Books XXI-XLV have been saved, though those of the fifth +"decade" are imperfect. They close with the triumph of Æmilius, in 167 +B.C., and the reduction of Macedonia to a Roman province. Of the other +books, only a few fragments remain, the most interesting of which +(from Book CXX) recounts the death of Cicero, and gives what appears +to be a very just estimate of his character. We have epitomes of all +the lost books, with the exception of ten; but these are so scanty as +to amount to little more than tables of contents. Their probable date +is not later than the time of Trajan. To summarize the result, then, +thirty-five books have been saved and one hundred and seven lost--a +most deplorable record, especially when we consider that in the later +books the historian treated of times and events whereof his means of +knowledge were adequate to his task. + +TITUS LIVIUS was born at Patavium, the modern Padua, some time between +61 and 57 B.C. Of his parentage and early life nothing is known. It +is easy to surmise that he was well born, from his political bias in +favour of the aristocratic party, and from the evident fact of his +having received a liberal education; yet the former of these arguments +is not at all inconsistent with the opposite supposition, and the +latter should lead to no very definite conclusion when we remember +that in his days few industries were more profitable than the higher +education of slaves for the pampered Roman market. Niebuhr infers, +from a sentence quoted by Quintilian, that Livy began life as a +teacher of rhetoric. However that may be, it seems certain that he +came to Rome about 30 B.C., was introduced to Augustus and won his +patronage and favour, and after the death of his great patron and +friend retired to the city of his birth, where he died, 17 A.D. It +is probable that he had fixed the date of the Emperor's death as the +limit of his history, and that his own decease cut short his task. + +No historian ever told a story more delightfully. The available +translations leave much to be desired, but to the student of Latin +Livy's style is pure and simple, and possesses that charm which purity +and simplicity always give. If there is anything to justify the charge +of "Patavinity," or provincialism, made by Asinius Pollio, we, at +least, are not learned enough in Latin to detect it; and Pollio, too, +appears to have been no gentle critic if we may judge by his equally +severe strictures upon Cicero, Cæsar, and Sallust. This much we know: +the Patavian's heroes live; his events happen, and we are carried +along upon their tide. Our sympathies, our indignation, our +enthusiasm, are summoned into being, and history and fiction appear to +walk hand in hand for our instruction and amusement. In this latter +word--fiction--lies the charge most often and most strongly made +against him--the charge that he has written a story and no more; that +with him past time existed but to furnish materials "to point a moral +or adorn a tale." Let us consider to what extent this is true, and, if +true, in what measure the author has sinned by it or we have lost. + +No one would claim that the rules by which scientific historians of +to-day are judged should be applied to those that wrote when history +was young, when the boundaries between the possible and the impossible +were less clearly defined, or when, in fact, such boundaries hardly +existed in men's minds. In this connection, even while we vaunt, we +smile. After all, how much of our modern and so-called scientific +history must strike the reasoning reader as mere theorizing or as +special pleading based upon the slenderest evidence! Among the +ancients the work of the historians whom we consider trustworthy--such +writers, for instance, as Cæsar, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, and +Tacitus--may be said to fall generally within Rawlinson's canons 1 and +2 of historical criticism--that is, (1) cases where the historian has +personal knowledge concerning the facts whereof he writes, or (2) +where the facts are such that he may reasonably be supposed to have +obtained them from contemporary witnesses. Canon 2 might be elaborated +and refined very considerably and perhaps to advantage. It naturally +includes as sources of knowledge--first, personal interviews with +contemporary witnesses; and, second, accesses to the writings of +historians whose opportunities brought them within canon 1. In this +latter case the evidence would be less convincing, owing to the lack +of opportunity to cross-question, though even here apparent lack of +bias or the existence of biased testimony on both sides, from which a +judicious man might have a fair chance to extract the truth, would go +far to cure the defect. + +The point, however, to which I tend is, that the portions of Livy's +history from which we must judge of his trustworthiness treat, for the +most part, of periods concerning which even his evidence was of the +scantiest and poorest description. He doubtless had family records, +funeral panegyrics, and inscription--all of which were possibly almost +as reliable as those of our own day. Songs sung at festivals and +handed down by tradition may or may not be held more truthful. These +he had as well; but the government records, the ancient fasti, had +been destroyed at the time of the burning of the city by the Gauls, +and there is no hint of any Roman historian that lived prior to the +date of the second Punic war. Thus we may safely infer that Livy wrote +of the first five hundred years without the aid of any contemporary +evidence, either approximately complete or ostensibly reliable. With +the beginning of the second Punic war began also the writing of +history. Quintus Fabius Pictor had left a work, which Polybius +condemned on the score of its evident partiality. Lucius Cincius +Alimentus, whose claim to knowledge if not to impartiality rests +largely on the fact that he was captured and held prisoner by +Hannibal, also left memoirs; but Hannibal was not famous for treating +prisoners mildly, and the Romans, most cruel themselves in this +respect, were always deeply scandalized by a much less degree of +harshness on the part of their enemies. Above all, there was Polybius +himself, who perhaps approaches nearer to the critical historian than +any writer of antiquity, and it is Polybius upon whom Livy mainly +relies through his third, fourth, and fifth decades. The works of +Fabius and Cincius are lost. So also are those of the Lacedaemonian +Sosilus and the Sicilian Silanus, who campaigned with Hannibal and +wrote the Carthaginian side of the story; nor is there any evidence +that either Polybius or Livy had access to their writings. Polybius, +then, may be said to be the only reliable source from which Livy could +draw for any of his extant books, and before condemning unqualifiedly +in the cases where he deserts him and harks back to Roman authorities +we must remember that Livy was a strong nationalist, one of a people +who, despite their conquests, were essentially narrow, prejudiced, +egotistical; and, thus remembering, we must marvel that he so fully +recognises the merit of his unprejudiced guide and wanders as little +as he does. All told, it is quite certain that he has dealt more +fairly by Hannibal than have Alison and other English historians by +Napoleon. His unreliability consists rather in his conclusions than in +his facts, and it is unquestioned that through all the pages of +the third decade he has so told the story of the man most hated by +Rome--the deadliest enemy she had ever encountered--that the reader +can not fail to feel the greatness of Hannibal dominating every +chapter. + +Referring again to the criticisms made so lavishly upon Livy's story +of the earlier centuries, it is well to recall the contention of the +hard-headed Scotchman Ferguson, that with all our critical acumen we +have found no sure ground to rest upon until we reach the second Punic +war. Niebuhr, on the other hand, whose German temperament is alike +prone to delve or to theorize, is disposed to think--with considerable +generosity to our abilities, it appears to me--that we may yet evolve +a fairly true history of Rome from the foundation of the commonwealth. +As to the times of the kings, it is admitted that we know nothing, +while from the founding of the commonwealth to the second Punic war +the field may be described as, at the best, but a battle-ground for +rival theories. + +The ancient historian had, as a rule, little to do with such +considerations or controversies. In the lack of solid evidence he had +only to write down the accepted story of the origin of things, as +drawn from the lips of poetry, legend, or tradition, and it was +for Livy to write thus or not at all. Even here the honesty of his +intention is apparent. For much of his early history he does not claim +more than is claimed for it by many of his modern critics, while time +and again he pauses to express a doubt as to the credibility of some +incident. A notable instance of this is found in his criticism of +those stories most dear to the Roman heart--the stories of the birth +and apotheosis of Romulus. On the other hand, if he has given free +life to many beautiful legends that were undoubtedly current and +believed for centuries, is it heresy to avow that these as such seem +to me of more true value to the antiquary than if they had been +subjected at their historical inception to the critical and +theoretical methods of to-day? I can not hold Livy quite unpardonable +even when following, as he often does, such authorities as the Furian +family version of the redemption of the city by the arms of their +progenitor Camillus, instead of by the payment of the agreed ransom, +as modern writers consider proven, while his putting of set speeches +into the mouths of his characters may be described as a conventional +usage of ancient historians, which certainly added to the liveliness +of the narrative and probably was neither intended to be taken +literally nor resulted in deceiving any one. + +Reverting for a moment to Livy's honesty and frankness, so far as his +intent might govern such qualities, I think no stronger evidence in +his favour can be found than his avowed republican leanings at the +court of Augustus and his just estimate of Cicero's character in the +face of the favour of a prince by whose consent the great orator had +been assassinated. Above all, it must have been a fearless and honest +man who could swing the scourge with which he lashed his degenerate +countrymen in those stinging words, "The present times, when we can +endure neither our vices nor their remedies." + +Nevertheless, and despite the facts that Livy means to be honest and +that he questions much on grounds that would not shame the repute of +many of his modern critics, the charge is doubtless true that his +writings are not free from prejudice in favour of his country. That he +definitely regarded history rather as a moral agency and a lesson for +the future than as an irrefutable narrative of the past, I consider +highly hypothetical; but it is probable that his mind was not of the +type that is most diligent in the close, exhaustive, and logical study +so necessary to the historian of today. "Superficial," if we could +eliminate the reproach in the word, would perhaps go far toward +describing him. He is what we would call a popular rather than a +scientific writer, and, since we think somewhat lightly of such when +they write on what we consider scientific subjects, we are too apt to +transfer their light repute to an author who wrote popularly at a time +when this treatment was best adapted to his audience, his aims, and +the material at his command. That he has survived through all these +centuries, and has enjoyed, despite all criticism, the position in +the literature of the world which his very critics have united +in conceding to him, is perhaps a stronger commendation than any +technical approval. + +From the standpoint of the present work it was felt that selections +aggregating seven books would accomplish all the purposes of a +complete presentation. The editors have chosen the first three books +of the first decade as telling what no one can better tell than Livy: +the stories and legends connected with the foundation and early life +of Rome. Here, as I have said, there was nothing for him to do but cut +loose from all trammels and hang breathless, pen in hand, upon the +lips of tradition. None can hold but that her faithful scribe has writ +down her words with all their ancient colour, with reverence reigning +over his heart; however doubts might lurk within his brain. These +books close with the restoration of the consular power, after the +downfall of the tyrannical rule of the Decemvirs, the revolution +following upon the attempt of Appius Claudius to seize Virginia, the +daughter of a citizen who, rather than see his child fall into the +clutches of the cruel patrician, killed her with his own hand in the +marketplace, and, rushing into the camp with the bloody knife, caused +the soldiers to revolt. The second section comprises Books XXI-XXIV, a +part of the narrative of the second Punic war, a military exploit the +most remarkable the world has ever seen. + +The question who was the greatest general that ever lived has been a +fruitful source of discussion, and Alexander, Cæsar, and Napoleon have +each found numerous and ardent supporters. Without decrying the signal +abilities of these chiefs, it must nevertheless be remembered that +each commanded a homogeneous army and had behind him a compact nation +the most warlike and powerful of his time. The adversaries also of the +Greek and the Roman were in the one instance an effete power already +falling to pieces by its own internal weakness, and in the other, for +the most part, scattered tribes of barbarians without unity of purpose +or military discipline. Even in his civil wars Cæsar's armies were +veterans, and those of the commonwealth were, comparatively speaking, +recruits. But when the reader of these pages carefully considers +the story of Hannibal's campaign in Italy, what does he find? Two +nations--one Caucasian, young, warlike above all its contemporaries, +with a record behind it of steady aggrandizement and almost unbroken +victory, a nation every citizen of which was a soldier. On the other +side, a race of merchants Semitic in blood, a city whose citizens had +long since ceased to go to war, preferring that their gold should +fight for them by the hands of mercenaries of every race and +clime--hirelings whose ungoverned valour had proved almost as deadly +to their employers and generals as to their enemies. Above all, the +same battle had been joined before when Rome was weaker and Carthage +stronger, and Carthage had already shown her weakness and Rome her +strength. + +And now in this renewed war we see a young man, aided only by a little +group of compatriots, welding together army of the most heterogeneous +elements--Spaniards, Gauls, Numidians, Moors, Greeks--men of almost +every race except his own. We see him cutting loose from his base of +supplies, leaving enemies behind him, to force his way through +hostile races, through unknown lands bristling with almost impassable +mountains and frigid with snow and ice. We see him conquering here, +making friends and allies there, and, more wonderful than all, holding +his mongrel horde together through hardships and losses by the force +of his character alone. We see him at last descending into the plains +of Italy. We see him not merely defeating but annihilating army after +army more numerous than his own and composed of better raw material. +We see him, unaided, ranging from end to end of the peninsula, none +daring to meet him with opposing standards, and the greatest general +of Rome winning laurels because he knew enough to recognise his own +hopeless inferiority. All stories of reverses other than those of mere +detachments may pretty safely be set down as the exaggeration of Roman +writers. Situated as was Hannibal, the loss of one marshalled field +would have meant immediate ruin, and ruin never came when he fought +in Italy. On the contrary, without supplies save what his sword could +take, without friends save what his genius and his fortune could win, +he maintained his place and his superiority not for one or for two but +through fourteen years, during all which time we hear no murmur +of mutiny, no hint of aught but obedience and devotion among the +incongruous and unruly elements from which he had fashioned his +invincible army; and at the end we see him leaving Italy of his own +free will, at the call of his country, to waste himself in a vain +effort to save her from the blunders of other leaders and from the +penalty of inherent weakness, which only his sword had so long warded +off. + +When I consider the means, the opposition, and the achievement--a +combination of elements by which alone we can judge such questions +with even approximate fairness--I can not but feel that of all +military exploits this invasion of Italy, which we shall read of here, +was the most remarkable; that of all commanders Hannibal has shown +himself to be the greatest. Some of Livy's charges against him as a +man are doubtless true. Avarice was in his blood; and cruelty also, +though it ill became a Roman to chide an enemy on that score. Besides, +Livy himself tells how Hannibal had sought for the bodies of the +generals he had slain, that he might give them the rites of honourable +sepulture; tells it, and in the next breath relates how the Roman +commander mutilated the corpse of the fallen Hasdrubal and threw the +head into his brother's camp. So, too, his naïve explanation that +Hannibal's "more than Punic perfidy" consisted mainly of ambushes +and similar military strategies goes to show, as I have said, that +whatever is unjust in our author's estimate was rather the result of +the prejudiced deductions of national egotism than of facts wilfully +or carelessly distorted by partisan spite. + +To the reader who bears well in mind the points I have ventured to +make, I predict profit hardly less than pleasure in these pages; for +Livy is perhaps the only historian who may be said to have been honest +enough to furnish much of the material for criticism of himself, and +to be, to a very considerable extent, self-adjusting. + +DUFFIELD OSBORNE. + + + +THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE [1] + +Whether in tracing the history of the Roman people, from the +foundation of the city, I shall employ myself to a useful purpose, I +am neither very certain, nor, if I were, dare I say; inasmuch as I +observe that it is both an old and hackneyed practice, later authors +always supposing that they will either adduce something more authentic +in the facts, or, that they will excel the less polished ancients in +their style of writing. Be that as it may, it will, at all events, +be a satisfaction to me that I too have contributed my share to +perpetuate the achievements of a people, the lords of the world; and +if, amid so great a number of historians, my reputation should remain +in obscurity, I may console myself with the celebrity and lustre of +those who shall stand in the way of my fame. Moreover, the subject is +of immense labour, as being one which must be traced back for more +than seven hundred years, and which, having set out from small +beginnings, has increased to such a degree that it is now distressed +by its own magnitude. And, to most readers, I doubt not but that the +first origin and the events immediately succeeding, will afford but +little pleasure, while they will be hastening to these later times, in +which the strength of this overgrown people has for a long period been +working its own destruction. I, on the contrary, shall seek this, as +a reward of my labour, viz., to withdraw myself from the view of the +calamities, which our age has witnessed for so many years, so long as +I am reviewing with my whole attention these ancient times, being free +from every care that may distract a writer's mind, though it can not +warp it from the truth. The traditions that have come down to us of +what happened before the building of the city, or before its building +was contemplated, as being suitable rather to the fictions of poetry +than to the genuine records of history, I have no intention either to +affirm or to refute. This indulgence is conceded to antiquity, that by +blending things human with divine, it may make the origin of cities +appear more venerable: and if any people might be allowed to +consecrate their origin, and to ascribe it to the gods as its authors, +such is the renown of the Roman people in war, that when they +represent Mars, in particular, as their own parent and that of their +founder, the nations of the world may submit to this as patiently +as they submit to their sovereignty. But in whatever way these and +similar matters shall be attended to, or judged of, I shall not +deem it of great importance. I would have every man apply his mind +seriously to consider these points, viz., what their life and what +their manners were; through what men and by what measures, both in +peace and in war, their empire was acquired and extended; then, as +discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their +morals, at first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and +more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, +when we can endure neither our vices nor their remedies. This it is +which is particularly salutary and profitable in the study of history, +that you behold instances of every variety of conduct displayed on a +conspicuous monument; that thence you may select for yourself and for +your country that which you may imitate; thence note what is shameful +in the undertaking, and shameful in the result, which you may avoid. +But either a fond partiality for the task I have undertaken deceives +me, or there never was any state either greater, or more moral, or +richer in good examples, nor one into which luxury and avarice made +their entrance so late, and where poverty and frugality were so much +and so long honoured; so that the less wealth there was, the less +desire was there. Of late, riches have introduced avarice and +excessive pleasures a longing for them, amid luxury and a passion for +ruining ourselves and destroying everything else. But let complaints, +which will not be agreeable even then, when perhaps they will be also +necessary, be kept aloof at least from the first stage of beginning so +great a work. We should rather, if it was usual with us (historians) +as it is with poets, begin with good omens, vows and prayers to the +gods and goddesses to vouchsafe good success to our efforts in so +arduous an undertaking. + +[Footnote 1: The tone of dignified despondency which pervades this +remarkable preface tells us much. That the republican historian was +no timid or time-serving flatterer of prince or public is more than +clear, while his unerring judgment of the future should bring much of +respect for his judgment of the past. When he wrote, Rome was more +powerful than ever. Only the seeds of ruin were visible, yet he +already divines their full fruitage.--D. O.] + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS--B.C. 510 + +Arrival of Æneas in Italy--Ascanius founds Alba Longa--Birth of +Romulus and Remus--Founding the city--Rome under the kings--Death of +Lucretia--Expulsion of the Tarquins--First consuls elected + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH--B.C. 509-468 + +Brutus establishes the republic--A conspiracy to receive the kings +into the city--Death of Brutus--Dedication of the Capitol--Battle of +Lake Regillus--Secession of the commons to the Sacred Mount--Five +tribunes of the people appointed--First proposal of an agrarian +law--Patriotism of the Fabian family--Contests of the plebeians and +patricians + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE--B.C. 468-446 + +Disturbances over the agrarian law--Cincinnatus called from his fields +and made dictator--Number of tribunes increased to ten--Decemvirs +appointed--The ten tables--Tyranny of the decemvirs--Death of +Virginia--Re-establishment of the consular and tribunician power + + + + +LIVY'S ROMAN HISTORY + + +BOOK I[1] + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS + +To begin with, it is generally admitted that, after the taking of +Troy, while all the other Trojans were treated with severity, in the +case of two, Æneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore to exercise the +full rights of war, both on account of an ancient tie of hospitality, +and because they had persistently recommended peace and the +restoration of Helen: and then Antenor, after various vicissitudes, +reached the inmost bay of the Adriatic Sea, accompanied by a body of +the Eneti, who had been driven from Paphlagonia by civil disturbance, +and were in search both of a place of settlement and a leader, their +chief Pylæmenes having perished at Troy; and that the Eneti and +Trojans, having driven out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and +the Alps, occupied these districts. In fact, the place where they +first landed is called Troy, and from this it is named the Trojan +canton. The nation as a whole is called Veneti. It is also agreed that +Æneas, an exile from home owing to a like misfortune, but conducted +by the fates to the founding of a greater empire, came first to +Macedonia, that he was then driven ashore at Sicily in his quest for a +settlement, and sailing thence directed his course to the territory of +Laurentum. This spot also bears the name of Troy. When the Trojans, +having disembarked there, were driving off booty from the country, as +was only natural, seeing that they had nothing left but their arms and +ships after their almost boundless wandering, Latinus the king and the +Aborigines, who then occupied these districts, assembled in arms from +the city and country to repel the violence of the new-comers. In +regard to what followed there is a twofold tradition. Some say that +Latinus, having been defeated in battle, first made peace and then +concluded an alliance with Æneas; others, that when the armies had +taken up their position in order of battle, before the trumpets +sounded, Latinus advanced to the front, and invited the leader of the +strangers to a conference. He then inquired what manner of men they +were, whence they had come, for what reasons they had left their home, +and in quest of what they had landed on Laurentine territory. After +he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief Æneas, the son of +Anchises and Venus, and that, exiled from home, their country having +been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a settlement and a site for +building a city, struck with admiration both at the noble character of +the nation and the hero, and at their spirit, ready alike for peace or +war, he ratified the pledge of future friendship by clasping hands. +Thereupon a treaty was concluded between the chiefs, and mutual +greetings passed between the armies: Æneas was hospitably entertained +at the house of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his +household gods, cemented the public league by a family one, by giving +Æneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans +in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and +permanent settlement. They built a town, which Æneas called Lavinium +after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward also, a son was the +issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the +name of Ascanius. + +Aborigines and Trojans were soon afterward the joint objects of a +hostile attack. Turnus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had +been affianced before the arrival of Æneas, indignant that a stranger +had been preferred to himself, had made war on Æneas and Latinus +together. Neither army came out of the struggle with satisfaction. The +Rutulians were vanquished: the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost +their leader Latinus. Thereupon Turnus and the Rutulians, mistrustful +of their strength, had recourse to the prosperous and powerful +Etruscans, and their king Mezentius, whose seat of government was at +Cære, at that time a flourishing town. Even from the outset he had +viewed with dissatisfaction the founding of a new city, and, as at +that time he considered that the Trojan power was increasing far more +than was altogether consistent with the safety of the neighbouring +peoples, he readily joined his forces in alliance with the Rutulians. +Æneas, to gain the good-will of the Aborigines in face of a war so +serious and alarming, and in order that they might all be not only +under the same laws but might also bear the same name, called both +nations Latins. In fact, subsequently, the Aborigines were not behind +the Trojans in zeal and loyalty toward their king Æneas. Accordingly, +in full reliance on this state of mind of the two nations, who were +daily becoming more and more united, and in spite of the fact that +Etruria was so powerful, that at this time it had filled with the fame +of its renown not only the land but the sea also, throughout the whole +length of Italy from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, Æneas led out +his forces into the field, although he might have repelled their +attack by means of his fortifications. Thereupon a battle was fought, +in which victory rested with the Latins, but for Æneas it was even the +last of his acts on earth. He, by whatever name laws human and divine +demand he should be called, was buried on the banks of the river +Numicus: they call him Jupiter Indiges. + +Ascanius, the son of Æneas, was not yet old enough to rule; the +government, however, remained unassailed for him till he reached the +age of maturity. In the interim, under the regency of a woman--so +great was Lavinia's capacity--the Latin state and the boy's kingdom, +inherited from his father and grandfather, was secured for him. I will +not discuss the question--for who can state as certain a matter of +such antiquity?--whether it was this Ascanius, or one older than +he, born of Creusa, before the fall of Troy, and subsequently the +companion of his father's flight, the same whom, under the name of +Iulus, the Julian family represents to be the founder of its name. +Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever +mother--it is at any rate agreed that his father was Æneas--seeing +that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now a flourishing +and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, +and built himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, +from its situation, being built all along the ridge of a hill, was +called Alba Longa. + +There was an interval of about thirty years between the founding of +Lavinium and the transplanting of the colony to Alba Longa. Yet its +power had increased to such a degree, especially owing to the +defeat of the Etruscans, that not even on the death of Æneas, nor +subsequently between the period of the regency of Lavinia, and the +first beginnings of the young prince's reign, did either Mezentius, +the Etruscans, or any other neighbouring peoples venture to take up +arms against it. Peace had been concluded on the following terms, that +the river Albula, which is now called Tiber, should be the boundary of +Latin and Etruscan territory. After him Silvius, son of Ascanius, born +by some accident in the woods, became king. He was the father of Æneas +Silvius, who afterward begot Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies +were transplanted, which were called Prisci Latini. From this time +all the princes, who ruled at Alba, bore the surname of Silvius. From +Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys; from Capys, +Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, having been drowned while +crossing the river Albula, gave it the name by which it was generally +known among those of later times. He was succeeded by Agrippa, son +of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, having received +the government from his father, became king. He was killed by a +thunderbolt, and handed on the kingdom to Aventinus, who, owing to his +being buried on that hill, which now forms part of the city of Rome, +gave it its name. After him reigned Proca, who begot Numitor and +Amulius. To Numitor, who was the eldest son, he bequeathed the ancient +kingdom of the Silvian family. Force, however, prevailed more than a +father's wish or the respect due to seniority. Amulius drove out his +brother and seized the kingdom: he added crime to crime, murdered +his brother's male issue, and, under pretence of doing honour to his +brother's daughter, Rea Silvia, having chosen her a Vestal Virgin,[2] +deprived her of all hopes of issue by the obligation of perpetual +virginity. + +My opinion, however, is that the origin of so great a city and an +empire next in power to that of the gods was due to the fates. The +Vestal Rea was ravished by force, and having brought forth twins, +declared Mars to be the father of her illegitimate offspring, either +because she really imagined it to be the case, or because it was less +discreditable to have committed such an offence with a god.[3] But +neither gods nor men protected either her or her offspring from the +king's cruelty. The priestess was bound and cast into prison; the king +ordered the children to be thrown into the flowing river. By some +chance which Providence seemed to direct, the Tiber, having over flown +its banks, thereby forming stagnant pools, could not be approached at +the regular course of its channel; notwithstanding it gave the bearers +of the children hope that they could be drowned in its water however +calm. Accordingly, as if they had executed the king's orders, they +exposed the boys in the nearest land-pool, where now stands the ficus +Ruminalis, which they say was called Romularis.[4] At that time the +country in those parts was a desolate wilderness. The story goes, that +when the shallow water, subsiding, had left the floating trough, in +which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf +from the mountains around directed her course toward the cries of the +infants, and held down her teats to them with such gentleness, that +the keeper of the king's herd found her licking the boys with her +tongue. They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were +carried by him to his homestead and given to his wife Larentia to be +brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called Lupa +among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an +opening was afforded for the marvellous story. The children, thus born +and thus brought up, as soon as they reached the age of youth, did +not lead a life of inactivity at home or amid the flocks, but, in the +chase, scoured the forests. Having thus gained strength, both in body +and spirit, they now were not only able to withstand wild beasts, but +attacked robbers laden with booty, and divided the spoils with the +shepherds, in whose company, as the number of their young associates +increased daily, they carried on business and pleasure. + +Even in these early times it is said that the festival of the +Lupercal, as now celebrated, was solemnized on the Palatine Hill, +which was first called Pallantium, from Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, +and afterward Mount Palatius. There Evander, who, belonging to the +above tribe of the Arcadians, had for many years before occupied +these districts, is said to have appointed the observance of a solemn +festival, introduced from Arcadia, in which naked youths ran about +doing honour in wanton sport to Pan Lycæus, who was afterward called +Inuus by the Romans. When they were engaged in this festival, as its +periodical solemnization was well known, a band of robbers, enraged at +the loss of some booty, lay in wait for them, and took Remus prisoner, +Romulus having vigorously defended himself: the captive Remus they +delivered up to King Amulius, and even went so far as to bring +accusations against him. They made it the principal charge that having +made incursions into Numitor's lands, and, having assembled a band +of young men, they had driven off their booty after the manner +of enemies. Accordingly, Remus was delivered up to Numitor for +punishment. Now from the very first Faustulus had entertained hopes +that the boys who were being brought up by him, were of royal blood: +for he both knew that the children had been exposed by the king's +orders, and that the time, at which he had taken them up, coincided +exactly with that period: but he had been unwilling to disclose +the matter, as yet not ripe for discovery, till either a fitting +opportunity or the necessity for it should arise. Necessity came +first. Accordingly, urged by fear, he disclosed the whole affair to +Romulus. By accident also, Numitor, while he had Remus in custody, +having heard that the brothers were twins, by comparing their age and +their natural disposition entirely free from servility, felt his mind +struck by the recollection of his grandchildren, and by frequent +inquiries came to the conclusion he had already formed, so that he +was not far from openly acknowledging Remus. Accordingly a plot was +concerted against the king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a +body of young men--for he was not equal to open violence--but having +commanded the shepherds to come to the palace by different roads at +a fixed time, made an attack upon the king, while Remus, having got +together another party from Numitor's house, came to his assistance; +and so they slew the king. + +Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, giving out that enemies had +invaded the city and attacked the palace, after he had drawn off the +Alban youth to the citadel to secure it with an armed garrison, when +he saw the young men, after they had compassed the king's death, +advancing toward him to offer congratulations, immediately summoned a +meeting of the people, and recounted his brother's unnatural behaviour +toward him, the extraction of his grandchildren, the manner of their +birth, bringing up, and recognition, and went on to inform them of the +king's death, and that he was responsible for it. The young princes +advanced through the midst of the assembly with their band in orderly +array, and, after they had saluted their grandfather as king, a +succeeding shout of approbation, issuing from the whole multitude, +ratified for him the name and authority of sovereign. The government +of Alba being thus intrusted to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized +with the desire of building a city on the spot where they had been +exposed and brought up. Indeed, the number of Alban and Latin +inhabitants was too great for the city; the shepherds also were +included among that population, and all these readily inspired hopes +that Alba and Lavinium would be insignificant in comparison with that +city, which was intended to be built. But desire of rule, the bane +of their grandfather, interrupted these designs, and thence arose a +shameful quarrel from a sufficiently amicable beginning. For as they +were twins, and consequently the respect for seniority could not +settle the point, they agreed to leave it to the gods, under whose +protection the place was, to choose by augury which of them should +give a name to the new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose +the Palatine and Remus the Aventine, as points of observation for +taking the auguries. + +It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and +when, after the omen had been declared, twice that number presented +themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own party, the +former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the +latter on account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and +exchanged angry words, from the strife of angry feelings they turned +to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the crowd. A +more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped +over the newly-erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in +a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:" +So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus +Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The +city, when built, was called after the name of its founder.[5] He +first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he himself had +been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the +Grecian rite, as they had been instituted by Evander; to the other +gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a tradition that Hercules, +having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing +beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the +banks of the river Tiber, where he had swam across, driving the cattle +before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant pasture, being +also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had +overpowered him, heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who +dwelt in the neighbourhood, by name Cacus, priding himself on his +strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to carry +them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of +him to the cave, their tracks must have conducted their owner thither +in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of them by their tails +backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having +looked over his herd and observed that some of their number were +missing, went straight to the nearest cave, to see whether perchance +their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned away +from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what +to make up his mind to do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so +dangerous a spot. Thereupon some of the cows that were driven away, +lowed, as they usually do, when they missed those that were left; and +the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from +the cave, caused Hercules to turn round. And when Cacus attempted +to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the cave, he was +struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds +to assist him. At that time Evander, who was an exile from the +Peloponnesus, governed the country more by his personal ascendancy +than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account +of the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men +ignorant of accomplishments,[7] and still more revered on account of +the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those peoples had +marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy. +This Evander, roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they +hastily crowded round the stranger, who was charged with open murder, +after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it, gazing +upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more +dignified and majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon +as he heard the name of the hero, and that of his father and native +country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother, +truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that +thou art destined to increase the number of the heavenly beings, and +that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee, which in after +ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in +accordance with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him +his right hand, declared that he accepted the prophetic intimation, +and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and +dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was +offered to Hercules with a choice heifer taken from the herd, the +Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished families who then +inhabited those parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so +happened that the Potitii presented themselves in due time and the +entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until +the entrails had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast. +From that time it became a settled institution, that, as long as the +Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of +the sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instructed by Evander, +discharged the duties of chief priests of this sacred function +for many generations, until their whole race became extinct, in +consequence of this office, the solemn prerogative of their family, +being delegated to public slaves. These were the only religious rites +that Romulus at that time adopted from those of foreign countries, +being even then an advocate of immortality won by merit, to which the +destiny marked out for him was conducting him. + +The duties of religion having been thus duly completed, the people +were summoned to a public meeting: and, as they could not be united +and incorporated into one body by any other means save legal +ordinances, Romulus gave them a code of laws: and, judging that these +would only be respected by a nation of rustics, if he dignified +himself with the insignia of royalty, he clothed himself with greater +majesty--above all, by taking twelve lictors to attend him, but also +in regard to his other appointments. Some are of opinion that he was +influenced in his choice of that number by that of the birds which had +foretold that sovereign power should be his when the auguries were +taken. I myself am not indisposed to follow the opinion of those, +who are inclined to believe that it was from the neighbouring +Etruscans--from whom the curule chair and purple-bordered toga were +borrowed--that the apparitors of this class, as well as the number +itself, were introduced: and that the Etruscans employed such a number +because, as their king was elected from twelve states in common, each +state assigned him one lictor. + +In the meantime, the city was enlarged by taking in various plots of +ground for the erection of buildings, while they built rather in the +hope of an increased population in the future, than in view of the +actual number of the inhabitants of the city at that time. Next, that +the size of the city might not be without efficiency, in order to +increase the population, following the ancient policy of founders of +cities, who, by bringing together to their side a mean and ignoble +multitude, were in the habit of falsely asserting that an offspring +was born to them from the earth, he opened as a sanctuary the place +which, now inclosed, is known as the "two groves," and which people +come upon when descending from the Capitol. Thither, a crowd of all +classes from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction, whether +freemen or slaves, eager for change, flocked for refuge, and therein +lay the foundation of the city's strength, corresponding to the +commencement of its enlargement. Having now no reason to be +dissatisfied with his strength, he next instituted a standing council +to direct that strength. He created one hundred senators, either +because that number was sufficient, or because there were only one +hundred who could be so elected. Anyhow they were called fathers[8], +by way of respect, and their descendants patricians. + +By this time the Roman state was so powerful, that it was a match for +any of the neighbouring states in war: but owing to the scarcity of +women its greatness was not likely to outlast the existing generation, +seeing that the Romans had no hope of issue at home, and they did +not intermarry with their neighbours. So then, by the advice of the +senators, Romulus sent around ambassadors to the neighbouring states, +to solicit an alliance and the right of intermarriage for his new +subjects, saying, that cities, like everything else, rose from the +humblest beginnings: next, that those which the gods and their own +merits assisted, gained for themselves great power and high renown: +that he knew full well that the gods had aided the first beginnings of +Rome and that merit on their part would not be wanting: therefore, as +men, let them not be reluctant to mix their blood and stock with men. +The embassy nowhere obtained a favourable hearing: but, although the +neighbouring peoples treated it with such contempt, yet at the same +time they dreaded the growth of such a mighty power in their midst to +the danger of themselves and of their posterity. In most cases when +they were dismissed they were asked the question, whether they had +opened a sanctuary for women also: for that in that way only could +they obtain suitable matches. + +The Roman youths were bitterly indignant at this, and the matter began +unmistakably to point to open violence. Romulus in order to provide a +fitting opportunity and place for this, dissembling his resentment, +with this purpose in view, instituted games to be solemnized every +year in honour of Neptunus Equester, which he called Consualia. He +then ordered the show to be proclaimed among the neighbouring peoples; +and the Romans prepared to solemnize it with all the pomp with which +they were then acquainted or were able to exhibit, in order to make +the spectacle famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers +assembled, being also desirous of seeing the new city, especially all +the nearest peoples, the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates: the +entire Sabine population attended with their wives and children. They +were hospitably invited to the different houses: and, when they saw +the position of the city, its fortified walls, and how crowded with +houses it was, they were astonished that the power of Rome had +increased so rapidly. When the time of the show arrived, and their +eyes and minds alike were intent upon it, then, according to +preconcerted arrangement, a disturbance was made, and, at a given +signal, the Roman youths rushed in different directions to carry off +the unmarried women. A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, by +those into whose hands they severally fell: some of the common people, +to whom the task had been assigned, conveyed to their homes certain +women of surpassing beauty, who were destined for the leading +senators. They say that one, far distinguished beyond the rest in form +and beauty, was carried off by the party of a certain Talassius, and +that, when several people wanted to know to whom they were carrying +her, a cry was raised from time to time, to prevent her being +molested, that she was being carried to Talassius: and that from this +the word was used in connection with marriages. The festival being +disturbed by the alarm thus caused, the sorrowing parents of the +maidens retired, complaining of the violated compact of hospitality, +and invoking the god, to whose solemn festival and games they had +come, having been deceived by the pretence of religion and good faith. +Nor did the maidens entertain better hopes for themselves, or feel +less indignation. Romulus, however, went about in person and pointed +out that what had happened was due to the pride of their fathers, +in that they had refused the privilege of intermarriage to their +neighbours; but that, notwithstanding, they would be lawfully wedded, +and enjoy a share of all their possessions and civil rights, and--a +thing dearer than all else to the human race--the society of their +common children: only let them calm their angry feelings, and bestow +their affections on those on whom fortune had bestowed their bodies. +Esteem (said he) often arose subsequent to wrong: and they would find +them better husbands for the reason that each of them would endeavour, +to the utmost of his power, after having discharged, as far as his +part was concerned, the duty of a husband, to quiet the longing for +country and parents. To this the blandishments of the husbands were +added, who excused what had been done on the plea of passion and love, +a form of entreaty that works most successfully upon the feelings of +women.[9] + +By this time the minds of the maidens were considerably soothed, but +their parents, especially by putting on the garb of mourning, and by +their tears and complaints, stirred up the neighbouring states. Nor +did they confine their feelings of indignation to their own home +only, but they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the +Sabines, and embassies crowded thither, because the name of Tatius +was held in the greatest esteem in those quarters. The Caeninenses, +Crustumini, and Antemnates were the people who were chiefly affected +by the outrage. As Tatius and the Sabines appeared to them to be +acting in too dilatory a manner, these three peoples by mutual +agreement among themselves made preparations for war unaided. However, +not even the Crustumini and Antemnates bestirred themselves with +sufficient activity to satisfy the hot-headedness and anger of the +Caeninenses: accordingly the people of Caenina, unaided, themselves +attacked the Roman territory. But Romulus with his army met them +while they were ravaging the country in straggling parties, and in +a trifling engagement convinced them that anger unaccompanied by +strength is fruitless. He routed their army and put it to flight, +followed in pursuit of it when routed, cut down their king in battle +and stripped him of his armour, and, having slain the enemy's leader, +took the city at the first assault. Then, having led back his +victorious army, being a man both distinguished for his achievements, +and one equally skilful at putting them in the most favourable light, +he ascended the Capitol, carrying suspended on a portable frame, +cleverly contrived for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's +general, whom he had slain: there, having laid them down at the foot +of an oak held sacred by the shepherds, at the same time that he +presented the offering, he marked out the boundaries for a temple of +Jupiter, and bestowed a surname on the god. "Jupiter Feretrius," said +he, "I, King Romulus, victorious over my foes, offer to thee these +royal arms, and dedicate to thee a temple within those quarters, which +I have just now marked out in my mind, to be a resting-place for the +spolia opima, which posterity, following my example, shall bring +hither on slaying the kings or generals of the enemy." This is the +origin of that temple, the first that was ever consecrated at Rome. It +was afterward the will of the gods that neither the utterances of +the founder of the temple, in which he solemnly declared that his +posterity would bring such spoils thither, should be spoken in vain, +and that the honour of the offering should not be rendered common +owing to the number of those who enjoyed it. In the course of so many +years and so many wars the spolia opima were only twice gained: so +rare has been the successful attainment of this honour.[10] + +While the Romans were thus engaged in those parts, the army of the +Antemnates made a hostile attack upon the Roman territories, seizing +the opportunity when they were left unguarded. Against these in like +manner a Roman legion was led out in haste and surprised them while +straggling in the country. Thus the enemy were routed at the first +shout and charge: their town was taken: Romulus, amid his rejoicings +at this double victory, was entreated by his wife Hersilia, in +consequence of the importunities of the captured women, to pardon +their fathers and admit them to the privileges of citizenship; that +the commonwealth could thus be knit together by reconciliation. +The request was readily granted. After that he set out against the +Crustumini, who were beginning hostilities: in their case, as their +courage had been damped by the disasters of others, the struggle was +less keen. Colonies were sent to both places: more, however, were +found to give in their names for Crustuminum, because of the fertility +of the soil. Great numbers also migrated from thence to Rome, chiefly +of the parents and relatives of the women who had been carried off. + +The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines, and this was by far +the most formidable: for nothing was done under the influence of anger +or covetousness, nor did they give indications of hostilities before +they had actually begun them. Cunning also was combined with prudence. +Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the Roman citadel: his maiden +daughter, who at the time had gone by chance outside the walls to +fetch water for sacrifice, was bribed by Tatius, to admit some armed +soldiers into the citadel. After they were admitted, they crushed her +to death by heaping their arms upon her: either that the citadel might +rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for the sake of setting +forth a warning, that faith should never on any occasion be kept with +a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the +Sabines usually wore golden bracelets of great weight on their left +arm and rings of great beauty set with precious stones, she bargained +with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore +shields were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say +that, in accordance with the agreement that they should deliver up +what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded their shields, +and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was +slain by the reward she had chosen for herself. + +Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day, +when the Roman army, drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the +valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, they did not descend +from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by resentment +and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced up hill to meet +them. The chiefs on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side +of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of the Romans Hostius +Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on unfavourable +ground, supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and +boldness. When Hostius fell, the Roman line immediately gave way, +and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the Palatium. +Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried, +uplifting his arms to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy +omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first foundations for the +city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the +Sabines: thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the +valley between. But do thou, O father of gods and men, keep back the +enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the Romans, and check +their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee +as Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has +been preserved by thy ready aid." Having offered up these prayers, +as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this +position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and +renew the fight." The Romans halted as if ordered by a voice from +heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius Curtius, on the +side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of +his troops and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole +space of ground where the Forum now is. He had almost reached the +gate of the Palatium, crying out: "We have conquered our perfidious +friends, our cowardly foes: now they know that fighting with men is a +very different thing from ravishing maidens." Upon him, as he uttered +these boasts, Romulus made an attack with a band of his bravest +youths. Mettius then happened to be fighting on horseback: on that +account his repulse was easier. When he was driven back, the Romans +followed in pursuit: and the remainder of the Roman army, fired by the +bravery of the king, routed the Sabines. Mettius, his horse taking +fright at the noise of his pursuers, rode headlong into a morass: this +circumstance drew off the attention of the Sabines also at the danger +of so high a personage. He indeed, his own party beckoning and calling +to him, gaining heart from the encouraging shouts of many of his +friends, made good his escape. The Romans and Sabines renewed the +battle in the valley between the two hills: but the advantage rested +with the Romans. + +At this crisis the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war had +arisen, with dishevelled hair and torn garments, the timidity natural +to women being overcome by the sense of their calamities, were +emboldened to fling themselves into the midst of the flying weapons, +and, rushing across, to part the incensed combatants and assuage their +wrath: imploring their fathers on the one hand and their husbands +on the other, as fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, not to besprinkle +themselves with impious blood, nor to fix the stain of murder on their +offspring, the one side on their grandchildren, the other on their +children. "If," said they, "you are dissatisfied with the relationship +between you, and with our marriage, turn your resentment against us; +it is we who are the cause of war, of wounds and bloodshed to our +husbands and parents: it will be better for us to perish than to +live widowed or orphans without one or other of you." This incident +affected both the people and the leaders; silence and sudden quiet +followed; the leaders thereupon came forward to conclude a treaty; +and not only concluded a peace, but formed one state out of two. They +united the kingly power, but transferred the entire sovereignty to +Rome. Rome having thus been made a double state, that some benefit at +least might be conferred on the Sabines, they were called Quirites +from Cures. To serve as a memorial of that battle, they called the +place--where Curtius, after having emerged from the deep morass, set +his horse in shallow water--the Lacus Curtius.[11] + +This welcome peace, following suddenly on so melancholy a war, +endeared the Sabine women still more to their husbands and parents, +and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when dividing the +people into thirty curiae, he called the curiae after their names. +While the number of the women were undoubtedly considerably greater +than this, it is not recorded whether they were chosen for their age, +their own rank or that of their husbands, or by lot, to give names +to the curiae. At the same time also three centuries of knights were +enrolled: the Ramnenses were so called from Romulus, the Titienses +from Titus Tatius: in regard to the Luceres, the meaning of the name +and its origin is uncertain.[12] From that time forward the two kings +enjoyed the regal power not only in common, but also in perfect +harmony. + +Several years afterward, some relatives of King Tatius ill-treated +the Ambassadors of the Laurentines, and on the Laurentines beginning +proceedings according to the rights of nations, the influence and +entreaties of his friends had more weight with Tatius. In this manner +he drew upon himself the punishment that should have fallen upon them: +for, having gone to Lavinium on the occasion of a regularly recurring +sacrifice, he was slain in a disturbance which took place there. They +say that Romulus resented this less than the event demanded, either +because partnership in sovereign power is never cordially kept up, or +because he thought that he had been deservedly slain. Accordingly, +while he abstained from going to war, the treaty between the cities +of Rome and Lavinium was renewed, that at any rate the wrongs of the +ambassadors and the murder of the king might be expiated. + +With these people, indeed, there was peace contrary to expectations: +but another war broke out much nearer home and almost at the city's +gates. The Fidenates,[13] being of opinion that a power in too close +proximity to themselves was gaining strength, hastened to make war +before the power of the Romans should attain the greatness it was +evidently destined to reach. An armed band of youths was sent into +Roman territory and all the territories between the city and the +Fidenae was ravaged. Then, turning to the left, because on the right +the Tiber was a barrier against them, they continued to ravage the +country, to the great consternation of the peasantry: the sudden +alarm, reaching the city from the country, was the first announcement +of the invasion. Romulus aroused by this--for a war so near home could +not brook delay--led out his army, and pitched his camp a mile from +Fidenae. Having left a small garrison there, he marched out with all +his forces and gave orders that a part of them should lie in ambush in +a spot hidden amid bushes planted thickly around; he himself advancing +with the greater part of the infantry and all the cavalry, by riding +up almost to the very gates, drew out the enemy--which was just what +he wanted--by a mode of battle of a disorderly and threatening nature. +The same tactics on the part of the cavalry caused the flight, which +it was necessary to pretend, to appear less surprising: and when, as +the cavalry appeared undecided whether to make up its mind to fight or +flee, the infantry also retreated--the enemy, pouring forth suddenly +through the crowded gates, were drawn toward the place of ambuscade, +in their eagerness to press on and pursue, after they had broken the +Roman line. Thereupon the Romans, suddenly arising, attacked the +enemy's line in flanks; the advance from the camp of the standards of +those, who had been left behind on guard, increased the panic: thus +the Fidenates, smitten with terror from many quarters, took to flight +almost before Romulus and the cavalry who accompanied him could wheel +round: and those who a little before had been in pursuit of men who +pretended flight, made for the town again in much greater disorder, +seeing that their flight was real. They did not, however, escape the +foe: the Romans, pressing closely on their rear, rushed in as if it +were in one body, before the doors of the gates could be shut against +them. + +The minds of the inhabitants of Veii,[14] being exasperated by the +infectious influence of the Fidenatian war, both from the tie of +kinship--for the Fidenates also were Etruscans--and because the very +proximity of the scene of action, in the event of the Roman arms being +directed against all their neighbours, urged them on, they sallied +forth into the Roman territories, rather with the object of plundering +than after the manner of a regular war. Accordingly, without pitching +a camp, or waiting for the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, taking +with them the booty they had carried off from the lands; the Roman +army, on the other hand, when they did not find the enemy in the +country, being ready and eager for a decisive action, crossed the +Tiber. And when the Veientes heard that they were pitching a camp, and +intended to advance to the city, they came out to meet them that they +might rather decide the matter in the open field, than be shut up and +have to fight from their houses and walls. In this engagement the +Roman king gained the victory, his power being unassisted by any +stratagem, by the unaided strength of his veteran army: and having +pursued the routed enemies up to their walls, he refrained from +attacking the city, which was strongly fortified and well defended +by its natural advantages: on his return he laid waste their lands, +rather from a desire of revenge than of booty. The Veientes, humbled +by that loss no less than by the unsuccessful issue of the battle, +sent ambassadors to Rome to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred +years was granted them, after they had been mulcted in a part of their +territory. These were essentially the chief events of the reign of +Romulus, in peace and in war, none of which seemed inconsistent with +the belief of his divine origin, or of his deification after death, +neither the spirit he showed in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, +nor his wisdom in building a city, and afterward strengthening it by +the arts of war and peace. For assuredly it was by the power that +Romulus gave it that it became so powerful, that for forty years after +it enjoyed unbroken peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than +to the fathers: above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers: +of these he kept three hundred, whom he called Celeres, armed to serve +as a body-guard not only in time of war but also of peace. + +Having accomplished these works deserving of immortality, while he was +holding an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain +near the Goat's pool, a storm suddenly came on, accompanied by loud +thunder and lightning, and enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that +it entirely hid him from the sight of the assembly. After this Romulus +was never seen again upon earth. The feeling of consternation having +at length calmed down, and the weather having become clear and fine +again after so stormy a day, the Roman youth seeing the royal seat +empty--though they readily believed the words of the fathers who +had stood nearest him, that he had been carried up to heaven by the +storm--yet, struck as it were with the fear of being fatherless, for a +considerable time preserved a sorrowful silence. Then, after a few had +set the example, the whole multitude saluted Romulus as a god, the son +of a god, the king and parent of the Roman city; they implored his +favour with prayers, that with gracious kindness he would always +preserve his offspring. I believe that even then there were some, who +in secret were convinced that the king had been torn in pieces by the +hands of the fathers--for this rumour also spread, but it was very +doubtfully received; admiration for the man, however, and the awe felt +at the moment, gave greater notoriety to the other report. Also by the +clever idea of one individual, additional confirmation is said to have +been attached to the occurrence. For Proculus Julius, while the state +was still troubled at the loss of the king, and incensed against the +senators, a weighty authority, as we are told, in any matter however +important, came forward into the assembly. "Quirites," said he, +"Romulus, the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, +appeared to me this day at daybreak. While I stood filled with dread, +and religious awe, beseeching him to allow me to look upon him face to +face, 'Go,' said he, 'tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that +my Rome should become the capital of the world. Therefore let them +cultivate the art of war, and let them know and so hand it down to +posterity, that no human power can withstand the Roman arms.' Having +said this, he vanished up to heaven." It is surprising what credit was +given to that person when he made the announcement, and how much the +regret of the common people and army for the loss of Romulus was +assuaged when the certainty of his immortality was confirmed.[15] + +Meanwhile[16] contention for the throne and ambition engaged the minds +of the fathers; the struggle was not as yet carried on by individuals, +by violence or contending factions, because, among a new people, no +one person was pre-eminently distinguished; the contest was carried on +between the different orders. The descendants of the Sabines wished a +king to be elected from their own body, lest, because there had been +no king from their own party since the death of Tatius, they might +lose their claim to the crown although both were on an equal footing. +The old Romans spurned the idea of a foreign prince. Amid this +diversity of views, however, all were anxious to be under the +government of a king, as they had not yet experienced the delights of +liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest, as the minds of many +surrounding states were incensed against them, some foreign power +should attack the state, now without a government, and the army, now +without a leader. Therefore, although they were agreed that there +should be some head, yet none could bring himself to give way to +another. Accordingly, the hundred senators divided the government +among themselves, ten decuries being formed, and the individual +members who were to have the chief direction of affairs being chosen +into each decury.[17] Ten governed; one only was attended by the +lictors and with the insignia of authority: their power was limited to +the space of five days, and conferred upon all in rotation, and the +interval between the government of a king lasted a year. From this +fact it was called an interregnum, a term which is employed even now. +Then the people began to murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, +and that they had now a hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they +seemed determined to submit to no authority but that of a king, and +that one appointed by themselves. When the fathers perceived that such +schemes were on foot, thinking it advisable to offer them, without +being asked, what they were sure to lose, they conciliated the +good-will of the people by yielding to them the supreme power, yet in +such a manner as to surrender no greater privilege than they reserved +to themselves. For they decreed, that when the people had chosen a +king, the election should be valid, if the senate gave the sanction of +their authority. And even to this day the same forms are observed in +proposing laws and magistrates, though their power has been taken +away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators ratify their +choice, even while the result of the elections is still uncertain. +Then the interrex, having summoned an assembly of the people, +addressed them as follows: "Do you, Quirites, choose yourselves a +king, and may this choice prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious; such +is the will of the fathers. Then, if you shall choose a prince worthy +to be reckoned next after Romulus, the fathers will ratify your +choice." This concession was so pleasing to the people, that, not to +appear outdone in generosity, they only voted and ordained that the +senate should determine who should be king at Rome. + +The justice and piety of Numa Pompilius was at that time celebrated. +He dwelt at Cures, a city of the Sabines, and was as eminently learned +in all law, human and divine, as any man could be in that age. They +falsely represent that Pythagoras of Samos was his instructor in +learning, because there appears no other. Now it is certain that this +philosopher, in the reign of Servius Tullius, more than a hundred +years after this, held assemblies of young men, who eagerly +embraced his doctrines, on the most distant shore of Italy, in the +neighbourhood of Metapontum, Heraclea, and Croton. But from these +places, even had he flourished in the same age, what fame of his could +have reached the Sabines? or by what intercourse of language could it +have aroused any one to a desire of learning? Or by what safeguard +could a single man have passed through the midst of so many nations +differing in language and customs? I am therefore rather inclined to +believe that his mind, owing to his natural bent, was attempered by +virtuous qualities, and that he was not so much versed in foreign +systems of philosophy as in the stern and gloomy training of the +ancient Sabines, a race than which none was in former times more +strict. When they heard the name of Numa, although the Roman fathers +perceived that the balance of power would incline to the Sabines if +a king were chosen from them, yet none of them ventured to prefer +himself, or any other member of his party, or, in fine, any of the +citizens or fathers, to a man so well known, but unanimously resolved +that the kingdom should be offered to Numa Pompilius. Being sent for, +just as Romulus obtained the throne by the augury in accordance with +which he founded the city, so Numa in like manner commanded the gods +to be consulted concerning himself. Upon this, being escorted into the +citadel by an augur, to whose profession that office was later made +a public and perpetual one by way of honour, he sat down on a stone +facing the south: the augur took his seaton his left hand with his +head covered, holding in his right a crooked wand free from knots, +called lituus; then, after having taken a view over the city and +country, and offered a prayer to the gods, he defined the bounds of +the regions of the sky from east to west: the parts toward the south +he called the right, those toward the north, the left; and in front of +him he marked out in his mind the sign as far as ever his eyes could +see. Then having shifted the lituus into his left hand, and placed +his right on the head of Numa, he prayed after this manner: "O father +Jupiter, if it be thy will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I +hold, be king of Rome, mayest thou manifest infallible signs to us +within those bounds which I have marked." Then he stated in set terms +the auspices which he wished to be sent: on their being sent, Numa was +declared king and came down from the seat of augury. + +Having thus obtained the kingdom, he set about establishing anew, on +the principles of law and morality, the newly founded city that had +been already established by force of arms. When he saw that the +inhabitants, inasmuch as men's minds are brutalized by military life, +could not become reconciled to such principles during the continuance +of wars, considering that the savage nature of the people must +be toned down by the disuse of arms, he erected at the foot of +Argiletum[18] a temple of Janus, as a sign of peace and war, that when +open, it might show that the state was engaged in war, and when shut, +that all the surrounding nations were at peace. Twice only since the +reign of Numa has this temple been shut: once when Titus Manlius was +consul, after the conclusion of the first Punic war; and a second +time, which the gods granted our generation to behold, by the Emperor +Cæsar Augustus, after the battle of Actium, when peace was established +by land and sea. This being shut, after he had secured the friendship +of all the neighbouring states around by alliance and treaties, all +anxiety regarding dangers from abroad being now removed, in order to +prevent their minds, which the fear of enemies and military discipline +had kept in check, running riot from too much leisure, he considered, +that, first of all, awe of the gods should be instilled into them, +a principle of the greatest efficacy in dealing with the multitude, +ignorant and uncivilized as it was in those times. But as this fear +could not sink deeply into their minds without some fiction of a +miracle, he pretended that he held nightly interviews with the goddess +Egeria; that by her direction he instituted sacred rites such as would +be most acceptable to the gods, and appointed their own priests for +each of the deities. And, first of all, he divided the year into +twelve months, according to the courses of the moon;[19] and because +the moon does not fill up the number of thirty days in each month, and +some days are wanting to the complete year, which is brought round by +the solstitial revolution, he so regulated this year, by inserting +intercalary months, that every twentieth year, the lengths of all the +intermediate years being filled up, the days corresponded with the +same starting-point of the sun whence they had set out. He likewise +divided days into sacred and profane, because on certain occasions it +was likely to be expedient that no business should be transacted with +the people. + +Next he turned his attention to the appointment of priests, though he +discharged many sacred functions himself, especially those which now +belong to the flamen of Jupiter. But, as he imagined that in a warlike +nation there would be more kings resembling Romulus than Numa, +and that they would go to war in person, in order that the sacred +functions of the royal office might not be neglected, he appointed a +perpetual priest as flamen to Jupiter, and distinguished him by a fine +robe, and a royal curule chair. To him he added two other flamens, one +for Mars, another for Quirinus. He also chose virgins for Vesta, a +priesthood derived from Alba, and not foreign to the family of the +founder. That they might be constant attendants in the temple, he +appointed them pay out of the public treasury; and by enjoining +virginity, and various religious observances, he made them sacred and +venerable. He also chose twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus, and gave them +the distinction of an embroidered tunic, and over the tunic a brazen +covering for the breast. He commanded them to carry the shields called +Ancilia,[20] which fell fromheaven, and to go through the city singing +songs, with leaping and solemn dancing. Then he chose from the fathers +Numa Marcius, son of Marcius, as pontiff, and consigned to him a +complete system of religious rites written out and recorded, showing +with what victims, upon what days, and at what temples the sacred +rites were to be performed, and from what funds the money was to be +taken to defray the expenses. He also placed all other religious +institutions, public and private, under the control of the decrees of +the pontiff, to the end that there might be some authority to whom +the people should come to ask advice, to prevent any confusion in the +divine worship being caused by their neglecting the ceremonies of +their own country, and adopting foreign ones. He further ordained that +the same pontiff should instruct the people not only in the ceremonies +connected with the heavenly deities, but also in the due performance +of funeral solemnities, and how to appease the shades of the dead; and +what prodigies sent by lightning or any other phenomenon were to be +attended to and expiated. To draw forth such knowledge from the minds +of the gods, he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter Elicius, +and consulted the god by means of auguries as to what prodigies ought +to be attended to. + +The attention of the whole people having been thus diverted from +violence and arms to the deliberation and adjustment of these matters, +both their minds were engaged in some occupation, and the watchfulness +of the gods now constantly impressed upon them, as the deity of heaven +seemed to interest itself in human concerns, had filled the breasts of +all with such piety, that faith and religious obligations governed the +state, the dread of laws and punishments being regarded as secondary. +And while the people of their own accord were forming themselves on +the model of the king, as the most excellent example, the neighbouring +states also, who had formerly thought that it was a camp, not a city, +that had been established in their midst to disturb the general peace, +were brought to feel such respect for them that they considered it +impious to molest a state, wholly occupied in the worship of the gods. +There was a grove, the middle of which was irrigated by a spring of +running water, flowing from a dark grotto. As Numa often repaired +thither unattended, under pretence of meeting the goddess, he +dedicated the grove to the Camenae, because, as he asserted, their +meetings with his wife Egeria were held there. He also instituted a +yearly festival to Faith alone, and commanded her priests to be driven +to the chapel erected for the purpose in an arched chariot drawn by +two horses, and to perform the divine service with their hands wrapped +up to the fingers, intimating that Faith ought to be protected, and +that even her seat in men's right hands was sacred. He instituted many +other sacred rites, and dedicated places for performing them, which +the priests call Argei. But the greatest of all his works was the +maintenance of peace during the whole period of his reign, no less +than of his royal power. Thus two kings in succession, by different +methods, the one by war, the other by peace, aggrandized the state. +Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three: the state was +both strong and attempered by the arts both of war and peace. + +Upon the death of Numa, the administration returned again to an +interregnum. After that the people appointed as King Tullus Hostilius, +the grandson of that Hostilius who had made the noble stand against +the Sabines at the foot of the citadel: the fathers confirmed the +choice. He was not only unlike the preceding king, but even of a more +warlike disposition than Romulus. Both his youth and strength, and, +further, the renown of his grandfather, stimulated his ambition. +Thinking therefore that the state was deteriorating through ease, +he everywhere sought for an opportunity of stirring up war. It so +happened that some Roman and Alban peasants mutually plundered each +other's lands. Gaius Cluilius at that time was in power at Alba. From +both sides ambassadors were sent almost at the same time, to demand +satisfaction. Tullus had ordered his representatives to attend to +their instructions before anything else. He knew well that the Alban +would refuse, and so war might be proclaimed with a clear conscience. +Their commission was executed in a more dilatory manner by the Albans: +being courteously and kindly entertained by Tullus, they gladly took +advantage of the king's hospitality. Meanwhile the Romans had both +been first in demanding satisfaction, and upon the refusal of the +Alban, had proclaimed war upon the expiration of thirty days: of this +they gave Tullus notice. Thereupon he granted the Alban ambassadors an +opportunity of stating with what demands they came. They, ignorant of +everything, at first wasted some time in making excuses: That it was +with reluctance they would say anything which might be displeasing +to Tullus, but they were compelled by orders: that they had come to +demand satisfaction: if this was not granted, they were commanded to +declare war. To this Tullus made answer, "Go tell your king, that the +king of the Romans takes the gods to witness, that, whichever of the +two nations shall have first dismissed with contempt the ambassadors +demanding satisfaction, from it they [the gods] may exact atonement +for the disasters of this war." This message the Albans carried home. + +Preparations were made on both sides with the utmost vigour for a war +very like a civil one, in a manner between parents and children, both +being of Trojan stock: for from Troy came Lavinium, from Lavinium, +Alba, and the Romans were descended from the stock of the Alban kings. +However, the result of the war rendered the quarrel less distressing, +for the struggle never came to regular action, and when the buildings +only of one of the cities had been demolished, the two states were +incorporated into one. The Albans first invaded the Roman territories +with a large army. They pitched their camp not more than five miles +from the city, and surrounded it with a trench, which, for several +ages, was called the Cluilian trench, from the name of the general, +till, by lapse of time, the name, as well as the event itself, was +forgotten. In that camp Cluilius, the Alban king, died: the Albans +created Mettius Fufetius dictator. In the meantime Tullus, exultant, +especially at the death of the king, and giving out that the supreme +power of the gods, having begun at the head, would take vengeance on +the whole Alban nation for this impious war, having passed the enemy's +camp in the night-time, marched with a hostile army into the Alban +territory. This circumstance drew out Mettius from his camp: he led +his forces as close as possible to the enemy; thence he despatched +a herald and commanded him to tell Tullus that a conference was +expedient before they came to an engagement; and that, if he would +give him a meeting, he was certain he would bring forward matters +which concerned the interests of Rome no less than of Alba. Tullus did +not reject the offer: nevertheless, in case the proposals made should +prove fruitless, he led out his men in order of battle: the Albans +on their side marched out also. After both armies stood drawn up +in battle array, the chiefs, with a few of the principal officers, +advanced into the midst. Then the Alban began as follows: "That +injuries and the non-restitution of property claimed according to +treaty is the cause of this war, methinks I have both heard our king +Cluilius assert, and I doubt not, Tullus, but that you allege the +same. But if the truth must be told, rather than what is plausible, it +is thirst for rule that provokes two kindred and neighbouring states +to arms. Whether rightly or wrongly, I do not take upon myself to +determine: let the consideration of that rest with him who has begun +the war. As for myself, the Albans have only made me their leader for +carrying on that war. Of this, Tullus, I would have you advised: how +powerful the Etruscan state is around us, and around you particularly, +you know better than we, inasmuch as you are nearer to them. They are +very powerful by land, far more so by sea. Recollect that, directly +you shall give the signal for battle, these two armies will be the +object of their attention, that they may fall on us when wearied and +exhausted, victor and vanquished together. Therefore, for the love of +heaven, since, not content with a sure independence, we are running +the doubtful hazard of sovereignty and slavery, let us adopt some +method, whereby, without great loss, without much bloodshed of either +nation, it may be decided which is to rule the other." The proposal +was not displeasing to Tullus, though both from his natural bent, as +also from the hope of victory, he was rather inclined to violence. +After consideration, on both sides, a plan was adopted, for which +Fortune herself afforded the means of execution. + +It happened that there were in the two armies at that time three +brothers born at one birth, neither in age nor strength ill-matched. +That they were called Horatii and Curiatii is certain enough, and +there is hardly any fact of antiquity more generally known; yet in a +manner so well ascertained, a doubt remains concerning their names, as +to which nation the Horatii, to which the Curiatii belonged. Authors +incline to both sides, yet I find a majority who call the Horatii +Romans: my own inclination leads me to follow them. The kings arranged +with the three brothers that they should fight with swords each in +defence of their respective country; assuring them that dominion +would rest with those on whose side victory should declare itself. No +objection was raised; the time and place were agreed upon. Before the +engagement began, a compact was entered into between the Romans and +Albans on these conditions, that that state, whose champions should +come off victorious in the combat, should rule the other state without +further dispute. Different treaties are made on different conditions, +but in general they are all concluded with the same formalities. We +have heard that the treaty in question was then concluded as follows, +nor is there extant a more ancient record of any treaty. The herald +asked King Tullus, "Dost thou command me, O king, to conclude a +treaty with the pater patratus of the Alban people?" On the king so +commanding him he said, "I demand vervain of thee, O king." The king +replied, "Take some that is pure." The herald brought a pure blade of +grass from the citadel; then again he asked the king, "Dost thou, O +king, appoint me the royal delegate of the Roman people, the Quirites, +and my appurtenances and attendants?" The king replied, "So far as +it may be done without detriment to me and to the Roman people, the +Quirites, I do so." The herald was Marcus Valerius, who appointed +Spurius Fusius pater patratus,[21] touching his head and hair with +the vervain.[22] The pater patratus was appointed ad iusiurandum +patrandum, that is, to ratify the treaty; and he went through it in a +lengthy preamble, which, being expressed in a long set form, it is not +worth while to repeat. After having set forth the conditions, he said: +"Hear, O Jupiter; hear, O pater patratus of the Alban people, and ye, +O Alban people, give ear. As those conditions, from first to last, +have been publicly recited from those tablets or wax without wicked +or fraudulent intent, and as they have been most correctly understood +here this day, the Roman people will not be the first to fail to +observe those conditions. If they shall be the first to do so by +public consent, by fraudulent intent, on that day do thou, O Jupiter, +so strike the Roman people, as I shall here this day strike this +swine; and do thou strike them so much the more, as thou art more +mighty and more powerful." When he said this, he struck the swine with +a flint stone. The Albans likewise went through their own set form and +oath by the mouth of their own dictator and priests. + +The treaty being concluded, the twin-brothers, as had been agreed, +took arms. While their respective friends exhorted each party, +reminding them that their country's gods, their country and parents, +all their fellow-citizens both at home and in the army, had their eyes +then fixed on their arms, on their hands, being both naturally brave, +and animated by the shouts and exhortations of their friends, they +advanced into the midst between the two lines. The two armies on both +sides had taken their seats in front of their respective camps, free +rather from danger for the moment than from anxiety: for sovereign +power was at stake, dependent on the valour and fortune of so few. +Accordingly, therefore, on the tip-toe of expectation, their attention +was eagerly fixed on a spectacle far from pleasing. The signal was +given: and the three youths on each side, as if in battle array, +rushed to the charge with arms presented, bearing in their breasts the +spirit of mighty armies. Neither the one nor the other heeded their +personal danger, but the public dominion or slavery was present to +their mind, and the thought that the fortune of their country would be +such hereafter as they themselves should have made it. Directly their +arms clashed at the first encounter, and their glittering swords +flashed, a mighty horror thrilled the spectators; and, as hope +inclined to neither side, voice and breath alike were numbed. Then +having engaged hand to hand, when now not only the movements of their +bodies, and the indecisive brandishings of their arms and weapons, but +wounds also and blood were seen, two of the Romans fell lifeless, one +upon the other, the three Albans being wounded. And when the Alban +army had raised a shout of joy at their fall, hope had entirely by +this time, not however anxiety, deserted the Roman legions, breathless +with apprehension at the dangerous position of this one man, whom the +three Curiatii had surrounded. He happened to be unhurt, so that, +though alone he was by no means a match for them all together, yet +he was full of confidence against each singly. In order therefore to +separate their attack, he took to flight, presuming that they would +each pursue him with such swiftness as the wounded state of his body +would permit. He had now fled a considerable distance from the place +where the fight had taken place, when, looking back, he perceived that +they were pursuing him at a great distance from each other, and that +one of them was not far from him. On him he turned round with great +fury, and while the Alban army shouted out to the Curiatii to succour +their brother, Horatius by this time victorious, having slain his +antagonist, was now proceeding to a second attack. Then the Romans +encouraged their champion with a shout such as is wont to be raised +when men cheer in consequence of unexpected success; and he hastened +to finish the combat. Wherefore before the other, who was not far off, +could come up to him, he slew the second Curiatius also. And now, the +combat being brought to equal terms, one on each side remained, but +unequally matched in hope and strength. The one was inspired with +courage for a third contest by the fact that his body was uninjured by +a weapon, and by his double victory: the other dragging along his body +exhausted from his wound, exhausted from running, and dispirited by +the slaughter of his brothers before his eyes, thus met his victorious +antagonist. And indeed there was no fight. The Roman, exulting, cried: +"Two I have offered to the shades of my brothers: the third I will +offer to the cause of this war, that the Roman may rule over the +Alban." He thrust his sword down from above into his throat, while he +with difficulty supported the weight of his arms, and stripped him +as he lay prostrate. The Romans welcomed Horatius with joy and +congratulations; with so much the greater exultation, as the matter +had closely bordered on alarm. They then turned their attention to the +burial of their friends, with feelings by no means the same: for the +one side was elated by the acquisition of empire, the other brought +under the rule of others: their sepulchres may still be seen in the +spot where each fell; the two Roman in one place nearer Alba, the +three Alban in the direction of Rome, but situated at some distance +from each other, as in fact they had fought. + +Before they departed from thence, when Mettius, in accordance with the +treaty which had been concluded, asked Tullus what his orders were, +he ordered him to keep his young men under arms, for he intended to +employ them, if a war should break out with the Veientes. After this +both armies were led away to their homes. Horatius marched in front, +carrying before him the spoils of the three brothers: his maiden +sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him before +the gate Capena;[23] and having recognised on her brother's shoulders +the military robe of her betrothed, which she herself had worked, she +tore her hair, and with bitter wailings called by name on her deceased +lover. The sister's lamentations in the midst of his own victory, and +of such great public rejoicings, raised the ire of the hot-tempered +youth. So, having drawn his sword, he ran the maiden through the body, +at the same time reproaching her with these words: "Go hence with thy +ill-timed love to thy spouse, forgetful of thy brothers that are dead, +and of the one who survives--forgetful of thy country. So fare every +Roman woman who shall mourn an enemy." This deed seemed cruel to the +fathers and to the people; but his recent services outweighed its +enormity. Nevertheless he was dragged before the king for judgment. +The king, however, that he might not himself be responsible for a +decision so melancholy, and so disagreeable in the view of the people, +or for the punishment consequent on such decision, having summoned +an assembly of the people, declared, "I appoint, according to law, +duumvirs to pass sentence on Horatius for treason." The law was of +dreadful formula. "Let the duumvirs pass sentence for treason. If he +appeal from the duumvirs, let him contend by appeal; if they shall +gain the cause, let the lictor cover his head, hang him by a rope +on the accursed tree, scourge him either within the pomerium,[24]or +without the pomerium." The duumvirs appointed in accordance with this +decision, who did not consider that, according to that law, they could +acquit the man even if innocent, having condemned him, then one of +them said: "Publius Horatius, I judge thee guilty of treason. Lictor, +bind his hands." The lictor had approached him, and was commencing to +fix the rope round his neck. Then Horatius, on the advice of Tullus, +a merciful interpreter of the law, said, "I appeal." Accordingly the +matter was contested before the people as to the appeal. At that trial +the spectators were much affected, especially on Publius Horatius +the father declaring that he considered his daughter to have been +deservedly slain; were it not so, that he would by virtue of his +authority as a father have inflicted punishment on his son. He then +entreated them that they would not render him childless, one whom but +a little while ago they had beheld blessed with a fine progeny. During +these words the old man, having embraced the youth, pointing to the +spoils of the Curiatii hung up in that place which is now called Pila +Horatia,[25] "Quirites," said he, "can you bear to see bound beneath +the gallows, amid scourgings and tortures, the man whom you just now +beheld marching decorated with spoils and exulting in victory--a sight +so shocking that even the eyes of the Albans could scarcely endure it? +Go then, lictor, bind those hands, which but a little while since, +armed, won sovereignty for the Roman people. Go, cover the head of the +liberator of this city: hang him on the accursed tree: scourge him, +either within the pomerium, so it be only amid those javelins and +spoils of the enemy, or without the pomerium, so it be only amid the +graves of the Curiatii. For whither can you lead this youth, where his +own noble deeds will not redeem him from such disgraceful punishment?" +The people could not withstand either the tears of the father, or the +spirit of the son, the same in every danger, and acquitted him more +from admiration of his bravery, than on account of the justice of his +cause. But that so clear a murder might be at least atoned for by some +expiation, the father was commanded to expiate the son's guilt at the +public charge. He, having offered certain expiatory sacrifices, which +were ever after continued in the Horatian family, and laid a beam +across the street, made the youth pass under it, as under the yoke, +with his head covered. This beam remains even to this day, being +constantly repaired at the public expense; it is called Sororium +Tigillum (Sister's Beam). A tomb of square stone was erected to +Horatia in the spot where she was stabbed and fell. + +However, the peace with Alba did not long continue. The +dissatisfaction of the populace at the fortune of the state having +been intrusted to three soldiers, perverted the wavering mind of the +dictator; and since straightforward measures had not turned out well, +he began to conciliate the affections of the populace by treacherous +means. Accordingly, as one who had formerly sought peace in time of +war, and was now seeking war in time of peace, because he perceived +that his own state possessed more courage than strength, he stirred +up other nations to make war openly and by proclamation: for his own +people he reserved the work of treachery under the show of allegiance. +The Fidenates, a Roman colony,[26] having taken the Veientes into +partnership in the plot, were instigated to declare war and take up +arms under a compact of desertion on the part of the Albans. When +Fidenae had openly revolted, Tullus, after summoning Mettius and his +army from Alba, marched against the enemy. When he crossed the Anio, +he pitched his camp at the conflux of the rivers.[27] Between that +place and Fidenae, the army of the Veientes had crossed the Tiber. +These, in the line of battle, also occupied the right wing near the +river; the Fidenates were posted on the left nearer the mountains. +Tullus stationed his own men opposite the Veientine foe; the Albans +he posted to face the legion of the Fidenates. The Alban had no more +courage than loyalty. Therefore neither daring to keep his ground, nor +to desert openly, he filed off slowly to the mountains. After this, +when he supposed he had advanced far enough, he led his entire army +uphill, and still wavering in mind, in order to waste time, opened +his ranks. His design was, to direct his forces to that side on which +fortune should give success. At first the Romans who stood nearest +were astonished, when they perceived their flanks were exposed by the +departure of their allies; then a horseman at full gallop announced +to the king that the Albans were moving off. Tullus, in this perilous +juncture, vowed twelve Salii and temples to Paleness and Panic. +Rebuking the horseman in a loud voice, so that the enemy might hear +him plainly, he ordered him to return to the ranks, that there was no +occasion for alarm; that it was by his order that the Alban army was +being led round to fall on the unprotected rear of the Fidenates. He +likewise commanded him to order the cavalry to raise their spears +aloft; the execution of this order shut out the view of the retreating +Alban army from a great part of the Roman infantry. Those who saw it, +believing that it was even so, as they had heard from the king, fought +with all the greater valour. The alarm was transferred to the enemy; +they had both heard what had been uttered so loudly, and a great part +of the Fidenates, as men who had mixed as colonists with the Romans, +understood Latin. Therefore, that they might not be cut off from the +town by a sudden descent of the Albans from the hills, they took to +flight. Tullus pressed forward, and having routed the wing of the +Fidenates, returned with greater fury against the Veientes, who were +disheartened by the panic of the others: they did not even sustain +his charge; but the river, opposed to them in the rear, prevented a +disordered flight. When their flight led thither, some, shamefully +throwing down their arms, rushed blindly into the river; others, while +lingering on the banks, undecided whether to fight or flee, were +overpowered. Never before was a more desperate battle fought by the +Romans. + +Then the Alban army, which had been a mere spectator of the fight, +was marched down into the plains. Mettius congratulated Tullus on his +victory over the enemy; Tullus on his part addressed Mettius with +courtesy. He ordered the Albans to unite their camp with that of the +Romans, which he prayed heaven might prove beneficial to both; and +prepared a purificatory sacrifice for the next day. As soon as it +was daylight, all things being in readiness, according to custom, he +commanded both armies to be summoned to an assembly. The heralds, +beginning at the farthest part of the camp, summoned the Albans first. +They, struck also with the novelty of the thing, in order to hear the +Roman king deliver a speech, crowded next to him. The Roman forces, +under arms, according to previous arrangement, surrounded them; the +centurions had been charged to execute their orders without delay. +Then Tullus began as follows: "Romans, if ever before, at any other +time, in any war, there was a reason that you should return thanks, +first to the immortal gods, next to your own valour, it was +yesterday's battle. For the struggle was not so much with enemies as +with the treachery and perfidy of allies, a struggle which is more +serious and more dangerous. For--that you may not be under a mistaken +opinion--know that it was without my orders that the Albans retired to +the mountains, nor was that my command, but a stratagem and the mere +pretence of a command: that you, being kept in ignorance that you were +deserted, your attention might not be drawn away from the fight, and +that the enemy might be inspired with terror and dismay, conceiving +themselves to be surrounded on the rear. Nor is that guilt, which I +now complain of, shared by all the Albans. They merely followed their +leader, as you too would have done, had I wished to turn my army away +to any other point from thence. It is Mettius there who is the leader +of this march: it is Mettius also who the contriver of this war is: it +is Mettius who is the violator of the treaty between Rome and Alba. +Let another hereafter venture to do the like, if I do not presently +make of him a signal example to mankind." The centurions in arms stood +around Mettius: the king proceeded with the rest of his speech as he +had commenced: "It is my intention, and may it prove fortunate, happy, +and auspicious to the Roman people, to myself, and to you, O Albans, +to transplant all the inhabitants of Alba to Rome, to grant your +commons the rights of citizenship, to admit your nobles into the body +of senators, to make one city, one state: as the Alban state after +being one people was formerly divided into two, so let it now again +become one." On hearing this the Alban youth, unarmed, surrounded by +armed men, although divided in their sentiments, yet under pressure of +the general apprehension maintained silence. Then Tullus proceeded: +"If, Mettius Fufetius, you were capable of learning fidelity, and how +to observe treaties, I would have suffered you to live and have given +you such a lesson. But as it is, since your disposition is incurable, +do you at any rate by your punishment teach mankind to consider those +obligations sacred, which have been violated by you? As therefore a +little while since you kept your mind divided between the interests of +Fidenae and of Rome, so shall you now surrender your body to be torn +asunder in different directions." Upon this, two chariots drawn by +four horses being brought up, he bound Mettius stretched at full +length to their carriages: then the horses were driven in different +directions, carrying off his mangled body on each carriage, where the +limbs had remained hanging to the cords. All turned away their eyes +from so shocking a spectacle. That was the first and last instance +among the Romans of a punishment which established a precedent that +showed but little regard for the laws of humanity. In other cases +we may boast that no other nation has approved of milder forms of +punishment.[28] + +Meanwhile the cavalry had already been sent on to Alba, to transplant +the people to Rome. The legions were next led thither to demolish the +city. When they entered the gates, there was not indeed such a tumult +or panic as usually prevails in captured cities, when, after the gates +have been burst open, or the walls levelled by the battering-ram, or +the citadel taken by assault, the shouts of the enemy and rush of +armed men through the city throws everything into confusion with fire +and sword: but gloomy silence and speechless sorrow so stupefied the +minds of all, that, through fear, paying no heed as to what they +should leave behind, what they should take with them, in their +perplexity, making frequent inquiries one of another, they now stood +on the thresholds, now wandering about, roamed through their houses, +which they were destined to see then for the last time. When now the +shouts of the horsemen commanding them to depart became urgent, and +the crash of the dwellings which were being demolished was heard in +the remotest parts of the city, and the dust, rising from distant +places, had filled every quarter as with a cloud spread over them; +then, hastily carrying out whatever each of them could, while they +went forth, leaving behind them their guardian deity and household +gods,[29] and the homes in which each had been born and brought up, an +unbroken line of emigrants soon filled the streets, and the sight of +others caused their tears to break out afresh in pity for one another: +piteous cries too were heard, of the women more especially, as they +passed by their revered temples now beset with armed men, and left +their gods as it were in captivity. After the Albans had evacuated the +town, the Roman soldiery levelled all the public and private buildings +indiscriminately to the ground, and a single hour consigned to +destruction and ruin the work of four hundred years, during which +Alba had stood. The temples of the gods, however--for so it had been +ordered by the king--were spared. + +In the meantime Rome increased by the destruction of Alba. The number +of citizens was doubled. The Coelian Mount was added to the city, and, +in order that it might be more thickly populated, Tullus selected it +as a site for his palace, and subsequently took up his abode there. +The leading men of the Albans he enrolled among the patricians, that +that division of the state also might increase, the Tullii, Servilii, +Quinctii, Geganii, Curiatii, Cloelii; and as a consecrated place +of meeting for the order thus augmented by himself he built a +senate-house, which was called Hostilia[30] even down to the time of +our fathers. Further, that all ranks might acquire some additional +strength from the new people, he chose ten troops of horsemen from +among the Albans: he likewise recruited the old legions, and raised +new ones, by additions from the same source. Trusting to this increase +of strength, Tullus declared war against the Sabines, a nation at that +time the most powerful, next to the Etruscans, in men and arms. On +both sides wrongs had been committed, and satisfaction demanded in +vain. Tullus complained that some Roman merchants had been seized in a +crowded market near the temple of Feronia:[31] the Sabines that some +of their people had previously taken refuge in the asylum, and had +been detained at Rome. These were put forward as the causes of the +war. The Sabines, well aware both that a portion of their strength had +been settled at Rome by Tatius, and that the Roman power had also been +lately increased by the accession of the Alban people, began, in like +manner, to look around for foreign aid themselves. Etruria was in +their neighbourhood; of the Etruscans the Veientes were the nearest. +From thence they attracted some volunteers, whose minds were stirred +up to break the truce, chiefly in consequence of the rankling +animosities from former wars. Pay also had its weight with some +stragglers belonging to the indigent population. They were assisted +by no aid from the government, and the loyal observation of the truce +concluded with Romulus was strictly kept by the Veientes: with respect +to the others it is less surprising. While both sides were preparing +for war with the utmost vigour, and the matter seemed to turn on this, +which side should first commence hostilities, Tullus advanced first +into the Sabine territory. A desperate battle took place at the wood +called Malitiosa, in which the Roman army gained a decisive advantage, +both by reason of the superior strength of their infantry, and also, +more especially, by the aid of their cavalry, which had been recently +increased. The Sabine ranks were thrown into disorder by a sudden +charge of the cavalry, nor could they afterward stand firm in battle +array, or retreat in loose order without great slaughter. + +After the defeat of the Sabines, when the government of Tullus and the +whole Roman state enjoyed great renown, and was highly flourishing, it +was announced to the king and senators, that it had rained stones on +the Alban Mount. As this could scarcely be credited, on persons being +sent to investigate the prodigy, a shower of stones fell from heaven +before their eyes, just as when balls of hail are pelted down to the +earth by the winds. They also seemed to hear a loud voice from the +grove on the summit of the hill, bidding the Albans perform their +religious services according to the rites of their native country, +which they had consigned to oblivion, as if their gods had been +abandoned at the same time as their country; and had either adopted +the religious rites of Rome, or, as often happens, enraged at their +evil destiny, had altogether renounced the worship of the gods. A +festival of nine days was instituted publicly by the Romans also on +account of the same prodigy, either in obedience to the heavenly voice +sent from the Alban Mount--for that, too, is reported--or by the +advice of the soothsayers. Anyhow, it continued a solemn observance, +that, whenever a similar prodigy was announced, a festival for nine +days was observed. Not long after, they were afflicted with +an epidemic; and though in consequence of this there arose an +unwillingness to serve, yet no respite from arms was given them by the +warlike king, who considered besides that the bodies of the young +men were more healthy when on service abroad than at home, until he +himself also was attacked by a lingering disease. Then that proud +spirit and body became so broken, that he, who had formerly considered +nothing less worthy of a king than to devote his mind to religious +observances, began to pass his time a slave to every form of +superstition, important and trifling, and filled the people's minds +also with religious scruples. The majority of his subjects, now +desiring the restoration of that state of things which had existed +under King Numa, thought that the only chance of relief for their +diseased bodies lay in grace and compassion being obtained from the +gods. It is said that the king himself, turning over the commentaries +of Numa, after he had found therein that certain sacrifices of a +secret and solemn nature had been performed to Jupiter Elicius, shut +himself up and set about the performance of those solemnities, but +that that rite was not duly undertaken or carried out, and that not +only was no heavenly manifestation vouchsafed to him, but he and his +house were struck by lightning and burned to ashes, through theanger +of Jupiter, who was exasperated at the ceremony having been improperly +performed.[32] Tullus reigned two-and-thirty years with great military +renown. + +On the death of Tullus, according to the custom established in the +first instance, the government devolved once more upon the senate, +who nominated an interrex; and on his holding the comitia, the people +elected Ancus Marciusking. The fathers ratified the election. Ancus +Marcius was the grandson of King Numa Pompilius by his daughter. As +soon as he began to reign, mindful of the renown of his grandfather, +and reflecting that the last reign, glorious as it had been in every +other respect, in one particular had not been adequately prosperous, +either because the rites of religion had been utterly neglected, or +improperly performed, and deeming it of the highest importance to +perform the public ceremonies of religion, as they had been instituted +by Numa, he ordered the pontiff, after he had recorded them all from +the king's commentaries on white tables, to set them up in a public +place. Hence, as both his own subjects, and the neighbouring nations +desired peace, hope was entertained that the king would adopt the +conduct and institutions of his grandfather. Accordingly, the Latins, +with whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign of Tullus, gained +fresh courage; and, after they had invaded Roman territory, returned +a contemptuous answer to the Romans when they demanded satisfaction, +supposing that the Roman king would spend his reign in indolence among +chapels and altars. The disposition of Ancus was between two extremes, +preserving the qualities of both Numa and Romulus; and, besides +believing that peace was more necessary in his grandfather's reign, +since the people were then both newly formed and uncivilized, he also +felt that he could not easily preserve the tranquility unmolested +which had fallen to his lot: that his patience was being tried and +being tried, was despised: and that the times generally were more +suited to a King Tullus than to a Numa. In order, however, that, since +Numa had instituted religious rites in peace, ceremonies relating to +war might be drawn up by him, and that wars might not only be waged, +but proclaimed also in accordance with some prescribed form, he +borrowed from an ancient nation, the Æquicolae, and drew up the form +which the heralds observe to this day, according to which restitution +is demanded. The ambassador, when he reaches the frontiers of the +people from whom satisfaction is demanded, having his head covered +with a fillet--this covering is of wool--says: "Hear, O Jupiter, hear, +ye confines" (naming whatsoever nation they belong to), "let divine +justice hear. I am the public messenger of the Roman people; I come +deputed by right and religion, and let my words gain credit." He then +definitely states his demands; afterward he calls Jupiter to witness: +"If I demand these persons and these goods to be given up to me +contrary to human or divine right, then mayest thou never permit me to +enjoy my native country." These words he repeats when he passes +over the frontiers: the same to the first man he meets: the same on +entering the gate: the same on entering the forum, with a slight +change of expression in the form of the declaration and drawing up of +the oath. If the persons whom he demands are not delivered up, after +the expiration of thirty-three days--for this number is enjoined by +rule--he declares war in the following terms: "Hear, Jupiter, and +thou, Janus Quirinus, and all ye celestial, terrestrial, and infernal +gods, give ear! I call you to witness, that this nation "(mentioning +its name)" is unjust, and does not carry out the principles of +justice: however, we will consult the elders in our own country +concerning those matters, by what means we may obtain our rights." +The messenger returns with them to Rome to consult. The king used +immediately to consult the fathers as nearly as possible in the +following words: "Concerning such things, causes of dispute, and +quarrels, as the pater patratus of the Roman people, the Quirites, has +treated with the pater patratus of the ancient Latins, and with the +ancient Latin people, which things ought to be given up, made good, +discharged, which things they have neither given up, nor made good, +nor discharged, declare," says he to him, whose opinion he asked +first, "what think you?" Then he replies: "I think that they should +be demanded by a war free from guilt and regularly declared; and +accordingly I agree, and vote for it." Then the others were asked +in order, and when the majority of those present expressed the same +opinion, war was agreed upon. It was customary for the fetialis to +carry in his hand a spear pointed with steel, or burned at the end +and dipped in blood, to the confines of the enemy's country, and in +presence of at least three grown-up persons, to say, "Forasmuch as +the states of the ancient Latins, and the ancient Latin people, have +offended against the Roman people of the Quirites, forasmuch as the +Roman people of the Quirites have ordered that there should be war +with the ancient Latins, and the senate of the Roman people, the +Quirites, have given their opinion, agreed, and voted that war should +be waged with the ancient Latins, on this account I and the Roman +people declare and wage war on the states of the ancient Latins, and +on the ancient Latin people." Whenever he said that, he used to hurl +the spear within their confines. After this manner at that time +satisfaction was demanded from the Latins, and war proclaimed: and +posterity has adopted that usage. + +Ancus, having intrusted the care of sacred matters to the flamen +and other priests, set out with an army freshly levied, and took +Politorium, a city of the Latins, by storm: and following the example +of former kings, who had increased the Roman power by incorporating +enemies into the state, transplanted all the people to Rome. And since +the Sabines had occupied the Capitol and citadel, and the Albans the +Coelian Mount on both sides of the Palatium, the dwelling-place of +the old Romans, the Aventine was assigned to the new people; not long +after, on the capture of Tellenae and Ficana, new citizens were added +to the same quarter. After this Politorium, which the ancient Latins +had taken possession of when vacated, was taken a second time by force +of arms. This was the cause of the Romans demolishing that city that +it might never after serve as a place of refuge for the enemy. At +last, the war with the Latins being entirely concentrated at Medullia, +the contest was carried on there for some time with changing success, +according as the fortune of war varied: for the town was both well +protected by fortified works, and strengthened by a powerful garrison, +and the Latins, having pitched their camp in the open, had several +times come to a close engagement with the Romans. At last Ancus, +making an effort with all his forces, first defeated them in a pitched +battle, and, enriched by considerable booty, returned thence to Rome: +many thousands of the Latins were then also admitted to citizenship, +to whom, in order that the Aventine might be united to the Palatium, +a settlement was assigned near the Temple of Murcia.[33] was likewise +added not from want of room, but lest at any time it should become a +stronghold for the enemy. It was resolved that it should not only be +surrounded by a wall, but also, for convenience of passage, be united +to the city by a wooden bridge, which was then for the first time +built across the Tiber. The fossa Quiritium, no inconsiderable defence +in places where the ground was lower and consequently easier of +access, was also the work of King Ancus. The state being augmented +by such great accessions, seeing that, amid such a multitude of +inhabitants (all distinction of right and wrong being as yet +confounded), secret crimes were committed, a prison [34] was built +in the heart of the city, overlooking the forum, to intimidate the +growing licentiousness. And not only was the city increased under this +king, but also its territory and boundaries. After the Mesian forest +had been taken from the Veientines, the Roman dominion was extended as +far as the sea, and the city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber; +salt-pits were dug around it, and, in consequence of the distinguished +successes in war, the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged. + +In the reign of Ancus, Lucumo,[35] a wealthy and enterprising man, +came to settle at Rome, prompted chiefly by the desire and hope of +high preferment, which he had no opportunity of obtaining at Tarquinii +(for there also he was descended from an alien stock). He was the son +of Demaratus, a Corinthian, who, an exile from his country on account +of civil disturbances had chanced to settle at Tarquinii, and having +married a wife there, had two sons by her. Their names were Lucumo +and Arruns. Lucumo survived his father, and became heir to all his +property. Arruns died before his father, leaving a wife pregnant. The +father did not long survive the son, and as he, not knowing that +his daughter-in-law was pregnant, had died without mentioning his +grandchild in his will, the boy who was born after the death of his +grandfather, and had no share in his fortune, was given the name of +Egerius on account of his poverty. Lucumo, who was, on the other +hand, the heir of all his father's property, being filled with high +aspirations by reason of his wealth, had these ambitions greatly +advanced by his marriage with Tanaquil, who was descended from a very +high family, and was a woman who would not readily brook that the +condition into which she had married should be inferior to that in +which she had been born. As the Etruscans despised Lucumo, as being +sprung from a foreign exile, she could not put up with the affront, +and, regardless of the natural love of her native country, provided +only she could see her husband advanced to honour, she formed the +design of leaving Tarquinii. Rome seemed particularly suited for that +purpose. In a state, lately founded, where all nobility is rapidly +gained and as the reward of merit, there would be room (she thought) +for a man of courage and activity. Tatius, a Sabine, had been king +of Rome: Numa had been sent for from Cures to reign there: Ancus was +sprung from a Sabine mother, and rested his title to nobility on the +single statue of Numa.[36] Without difficulty she persuaded him, +being, as he was, ambitious of honours, and one to whom Tarquinii was +his country only on his mother's side. Accordingly, removing their +effects, they set out for Rome. They happened to have reached the +Janiculum: there, as he sat in the chariot with his wife, an eagle, +gently swooping down on floating wings, took off his cap, and hovering +above the chariot with loud screams, as if it had been sent from +heaven for that very purpose, carefully replaced it on his head, +and then flew aloft out of sight. Tanaquil is said to have joyfully +welcomed this omen, being a woman well skilled, as the Etruscans +generally are, in celestial prodigies, and, embracing her husband, +bade him hope for a high and lofty destiny: that such a bird had come +from such a quarter of the heavens, and the messenger of such a god: +that it had declared the omen around the highest part of man: that it +had lifted the ornament placed on the head of man, to restore it to +him again, by direction of the gods. Bearing with them such hopes and +thoughts, they entered the city, and having secured a dwelling there, +they gave out his name as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. The fact that he +was a stranger and his wealth rendered him an object of attention +to the Romans. He himself also promoted his own good fortune by his +affable address, by the courteousness of his invitations, and by +gaining over to his side all whom he could by acts of kindness, until +reports concerning him reached even to the palace: and that notoriety +he, in a short time, by paying his court to the king without truckling +and with skilful address, improved so far as to be admitted on a +footing of intimate friendship, so much so that he was present at all +public and private deliberations alike, both foreign and domestic; +and being now proved in every sphere, he was at length, by the king's +will, also appointed guardian to his children. + +Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of the former kings both +in the arts of war and peace, and in renown. His sons were now nigh +the age of puberty; for which reason Tarquin was more urgent that +the assembly for the election of a king should be held as soon as +possible. The assembly having been proclaimed, he sent the boys out +of the way to hunt just before the time of the meeting. He is said to +have been the first who canvassed for the crown, and to have made a +speech expressly worded with the object of gaining the affections of +the people: saying that he did not aim at anything unprecedented, for +that he was not the first foreigner (a thing at which any one might +feel indignation or surprise), but the third who aspired to the +sovereignty of Rome. That Tatius who had not only been an alien, but +even an enemy, had been made king; that Numa, who knew nothing of +the city, and without solicitation on his part, had been voluntarily +invited by them to the throne. That he, from the time he was his own +master, had migrated to Rome with his wife and whole fortune, and +had spent a longer period of that time of life, during which men are +employed in civil offices, at Rome, than he had in his native country; +that he had both in peace and war become thoroughly acquainted with +the political and religious institutions of the Romans, under a master +by no means to be despised, King Ancus himself; that he had vied with +all in duty and loyalty to his king, and with the king himself in his +bounty to others. While he was recounting these undoubted facts, the +people with great unanimity elected him king. The same spirit of +ambition which had prompted Tarquin, in other respects an excellent +man, to aspire to the crown, attended him also on the throne. And +being no less mindful of strengthening his own power, than of +increasing the commonwealth, he elected a hundred new members into the +senate, who from that time were called minorum gentium, a party who +stanchly supported the king, by whose favour they had been admitted +into the senate. The first war he waged was with the Latins, in whose +territory he took the town of Apiolae by storm, and having brought +back thence more booty than might have been expected from the reported +importance of the war, he celebrated games with more magnificence and +display than former kings. The place for the circus, which is now +called Maximus, was then first marked out, and spaces were apportioned +to the senators and knights, where they might each erect seats for +themselves: these were called fori (benches). They viewed the games +from scaffolding which supported seats twelve feet in height from the +ground. The show consisted of horses and boxers that were summoned, +chiefly from Etruria. These solemn games, afterward celebrated +annually, continued an institution, being afterward variously called +the Roman and Great games. By the same king also spaces round the +forum were assigned to private individuals for building on; covered +walks and shops were erected. + +He was also preparing to surround the city with a stone wall, when a +war with the Sabines interrupted his plans. The whole thing was so +sudden, that the enemy passed the Anio before the Roman army could +meet and prevent them: great alarm therefore was felt at Rome. At +first they fought with doubtful success, and with great slaughter on +both sides. After this, the enemy's forces were led back into camp, +and the Romans having thus gained time to make preparations for the +war afresh, Tarquin, thinking that the weak point of his army lay +specially in the want of cavalry, determined to add other centuries to +the Ramnenses, Titienses, and Luceres which Romulus had enrolled, and +to leave them distinguished by his own name. Because Romulus had done +this after inquiries by augury, Attus Navius, a celebrated soothsayer +of the day, insisted that no alteration or new appointment could be +made, unless the birds had approved of it. The king, enraged at this, +and, as they say, mocking at his art, said, "Come, thou diviner, tell +me, whether what I have in my mind can be done or not?" When Attus, +having tried the matter by divination, affirmed that it certainly +could, "Well, then," said he, "I was thinking that you should cut +asunder this whetstone with a razor. Take it, then, and perform what +thy birds portend can be done." Thereupon they say that he immediately +cut the whetstone in two. A statue of Attus, with his head veiled, +was erected in the comitium, close to the steps on the left of the +senate-house, on the spot where the event occurred. They say also that +the whetstone was deposited in the same place that it might remain as +a record of that miracle to posterity. Without doubt so much honour +accrued to auguries and the college of augurs, that nothing was +subsequently undertaken either in peace or war without taking the +auspices, and assemblies of the people, the summoning of armies, and +the most important affairs of state were put off, whenever the +birds did not prove propitious. Nor did Tarquin then make any other +alteration in the centuries of horse, except that he doubled the +number of men in each of these divisions, so that the three centuries +consisted of one thousand eight hundred knights; only, those that were +added were called "the younger," but by the same names as the +earlier, which, because they have been doubled, they now call the six +centuries. + +This part of his forces being augmented, a second engagement took +place with the Sabines. But, besides that the strength of the Roman +army had been thus augmented, a stratagem also was secretly resorted +to, persons being sent to throw into the river a great quantity of +timber that lay on the banks of the Anio, after it had been first set +on fire; and the wood, being further kindled by the help of the wind, +and the greater part of it, that was placed on rafts, being driven +against and sticking in the piles, fired the bridge. This accident +also struck terror into the Sabines during the battle, and, after they +were routed, also impeded their flight. Many, after they had escaped +the enemy, perished in the river: their arms floating down the Tiber +to the city, and being recognised, made the victory known almost +before any announcement of it could be made. In that action the chief +credit rested with the cavalry: they say that, being posted on the +two wings, when the centre of their own infantry was now being driven +back, they charged so briskly in flank, that they not only checked +the Sabine legions who pressed hard on those who were retreating, but +suddenly put them to flight. The Sabines made for the mountains in +disordered flight, but only a few reached them; for, as has been +said before, most of them were driven by the cavalry into the river. +Tarquin, thinking it advisable to press the enemy hard while in a +state of panic, having sent the booty and the prisoners to Rome, and +piled in a large heap and burned the enemy's spoils, vowed as an +offering to Vulcan, proceeded to lead his army onward into the Sabine +territory. And though the operation had been unsuccessfully carried +out, and they could not hope for better success; yet, because the +state of affairs did not allow time for deliberation, the Sabines came +out to meet him with a hastily raised army. Being again routed there, +as the situation had now become almost desperate, they sued for peace. +Collatia and all the land round about was taken from the Sabines, and +Egerius, son of the king's brother, was left there in garrison. I +learn that the people of Collatia were surrendered, and that the +form of the surrender was as follows. The king asked them, "Are ye +ambassadors and deputies sent by the people of Collatia to surrender +yourselves and the people of Collatia?" "We are." "Are the people of +Collatia their own masters?" "They are." "Do ye surrender yourselves +and the people of Collatia, their city, lands, water, boundaries, +temples, utensils, and everything sacred or profane belonging to them, +into my power, and that of the Roman people?" "We do." "Then I receive +them." When the Sabine war was finished, Tarquin returned in triumph +to Rome. After that he made war upon the ancient Latins, wherein they +came on no occasion to a decisive engagement; yet, by shifting his +attack to the several towns, he subdued the whole Latin nation. +Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, +and Nomentum, towns which either belonged to the ancient Latins, or +which had revolted to them, were taken from them. Upon this, peace was +concluded. Works of peace were then commenced with even greater spirit +than the efforts with which he had conducted his wars, so that the +people enjoyed no more repose at home than it had already enjoyed +abroad; for he set about surrounding the city with a stone wall, on +the side where he had not yet fortified it, the beginning of which +work had been interrupted by the Sabine war; and the lower parts of +the city round the forum, and the other valleys lying between the +hills, because they could not easily carry off the water from the flat +grounds, he drained by means of sewers conducted down a slope into the +Tiber. He also levelled an open space for a temple of Jupiter in the +Capitol, which he had vowed to him in the Sabine war: as his mind even +then forecast the future grandeur of the place, he took possession of +the site by laying its foundations. + +At that time a prodigy was seen in the palace, which was marvellous +in its result. It is related that the head of a boy, called Servius +Tullius, as he lay asleep, blazed with fire in the presence of several +spectators: that, on a great noise being made at so miraculous a +phenomenon, the king and queen were awakened: and when one of the +servants was bringing water to put out the flame, that he was kept +back by the queen, and after the disturbance was quieted, that she +forbade the boy to be disturbed till he should awaken of his own +accord. As soon as he awoke the flame disappeared. Then Tanaquil, +taking her husband apart, said: "Do you see this boy whom bringing up +in so mean a style? Be assured that some time hereafter he will be a +light to us in our adversity, and a protector of our royal house when +in distress. Henceforth let us, with all the tenderness we can, train +up this youth, who is destined to prove the source of great glory to +our family and state." From this time the boy began to be treated as +their own son, and instructed in those accomplishments by which men's +minds are roused to maintain high rank with dignity. This was easily +done, as it was agreeable to the gods. The young man turned out to be +of truly royal disposition: nor when a son-in-law was being sought +for Tarquin, could any of the Roman youth be compared to him in any +accomplishment: therefore the king betrothed his own daughter to +him. The fact of this high honour being conferred upon him from +whatever cause, forbids us to believe that he was the son of a slave, +or that he had himself been a slave when young. I am rather of the +opinion of those who say that, on the taking of Corniculum, the wife +of Servius Tullius, who had been the leading man in that city, being +pregnant when her husband was slain, since she was known among the +other female prisoners, and, in consequence of her distinguished rank, +exempted from servitude by the Roman queen, was delivered of a child +at Rome, in the house of Tarquinius Priscus: upon this, that both the +intimacy between the women was increased by so great a kindness, +and that the boy, as he had been brought up in the family from his +infancy, was beloved and respected; that his mother's lot, in having +fallen into the hands of the enemy after the capture of her native +city, caused him to be thought to be the son of a slave. + +About the thirty-eighth year of Tarquin's reign, Servius Tullius +enjoyed the highest esteem, not only of the king, but also of the +senate and people. At this time the two sons of Ancus, though they had +before that always considered it the highest indignity that they +had been deprived of their father's crown by the treachery of their +guardian, that a stranger should be King of Rome, who not only did not +belong to a neighbouring, but not even to an Italian family, now felt +their indignation roused to a still higher pitch at the idea that +the crown would not only not revert to them after Tarquin, but would +descend even lower to slaves, so that in the same state, about the +hundredth year after Romulus, descended from a deity, and a deity +himself, had occupied the throne as long as he lived, Servius, one +born of a slave, would possess it: that it would be the common +disgrace both of the Roman name, and more especially of their family, +if, while there was male issue of King Ancus still living, the +sovereignty of Rome should be accessible not only to strangers, but +even to slaves. They determined therefore to prevent that disgrace by +the sword. But since resentment for the injury done to them incensed +them more against Tarquin himself, than against Servius, and the +consideration that a king was likely to prove a more severe avenger of +the murder, if he should survive, than a private person; and moreover, +even if Servius were put to death, it seemed likely that he would +adopt as his successor on the throne whomsoever else he might have +selected as his son-in-law. For these reasons the plot was laid +against the king himself. Two of the most brutal of the shepherds, +chosen for the deed, each carrying with him the iron tools of +husbandmen to the use of which he had been accustomed, by creating as +great a disturbance as they could in the porch of the palace, under +pretence of a quarrel, attracted the attention of all the king's +attendants to themselves; then, when both appealed to the king, and +their clamour had reached even the interior of the palace, they were +summoned and proceeded before him. At first both shouted aloud, and +vied in clamouring against each other, until, being restrained by +the lictor, and commanded to speak in turns, they at length ceased +railing: as agreed upon, one began to state his case. While the king's +attention, eagerly directed toward the speaker, was diverted from the +second shepherd, the latter, raising up his axe, brought it down upon +the king's head, and, leaving the weapon in the wound, both rushed out +of the palace. + +When those around had raised up Tarquin in a dying state, the lictors +seized the shepherds, who were endeavouring to escape. Upon this an +uproar ensued and a concourse of people assembled, wondering what was +the matter. Tanaquil, amid the tumult, ordered the palace to be shut, +and thrust out all spectators: at the same time she carefully prepared +everything necessary for dressing the wound, as if a hope still +remained: at the same time, she provided other means of safety, in +case her hopes should prove false. Having hastily summoned Servius, +after she had shown him her husband almost at his last gasp, holding +his right hand, she entreated him not to suffer the death of his +father-in-law to pass unavenged, nor to allow his mother-in-law to be +an object of scorn to their enemies. "Servius," said she, "if you are +a man, the kingdom belongs to you, not to those, who, by the hands of +others, have perpetrated a most shameful deed. Rouse yourself, and +follow the guidance of the gods, who portended that this head of yours +would be illustrious by formerly shedding a divine blaze around it. +Now let that celestial flame arouse you. Now awake in earnest. We, +too, though foreigners, have reigned. Consider who you are, not whence +you are sprung. If your own plans are rendered useless by reason of +the suddenness of this event, then follow mine." When the uproar +and violence of the multitude could scarcely be endured, Tanaquil +addressed the populace from the upper part of the palace [37] through +the windows facing the New Street (for the royal residence was near +the Temple of Jupiter Stator). She bade them be of good courage; that +the king was merely stunned by the suddenness of the blow; that the +weapon had not sunk deep into his body; that he had already come to +his senses again; that the blood had been wiped off and the wound +examined; that all the symptoms were favourable; that she was +confident they would see him in person very soon; that, in the +meantime, he commanded the people to obey the orders of Servius +Tullius; that the latter would administer justice, and perform all +the other functions of the king. Servius came forth wearing the +trabea[38], and attended by lictors, and seating himself on the king's +throne, decided some cases, and with respect to others pretended that +he would consult the king. Therefore, though Tarquin had now expired, +his death was concealed for several days, and Servius, under pretence +of discharging the functions of another, strengthened his own +influence. Then at length the fact of his death was made public, +lamentations being raised in the palace. Servius, supported by a +strong body-guard, took possession of the kingdom by the consent +of the senate, being the first who did so without the order of the +people. The children of Ancus, the instruments of their villainy +having been by this time caught, as soon as it was announced that the +king still lived, and that the power of Servius was so great, had +already gone into exile to Suessa Pometia. + +And now Servius began to strengthen his power, not more by public +than by private measures; and, that the children of Tarquin might not +entertain the same feelings toward himself as the children of Ancus +had entertained toward Tarquin, he united his two daughters in +marriage to the young princes, the Tarquinii, Lucius and Arruns. He +did not, however, break through the inevitable decrees of fate by +human counsels, so as to prevent jealousy of the sovereign power +creating general animosity and treachery even among the members of +his own family. Very opportunely for the immediate preservation of +tranquility, a war was undertaken against the Veientes (for the truce +had now expired) and the other Etruscans. In that war, both the valour +and good fortune of Tullius were conspicuous, and he returned to Rome, +after routing a large army of the enemy, undisputed king, whether he +tested the dispositions of the fathers or the people. He then set +about a work of peace of the utmost importance: that, as Numa had been +the author of religious institutions, so posterity might celebrate +Servius as the founder of all distinction in the state and of the +several orders by which any difference is perceptible between the +degrees of rank and fortune. For he instituted the census,[39] a most +salutary measure for an empire destined to become so great, according +to which the services of war and peace were to be performed, not by +every man, as formerly, but in proportion to his amount of property. +Then he divided the classes and centuries according to the census, and +introduced the following arrangement, eminently adapted either for +peace or war. + +Of those who possessed property to the value of a hundred thousand +asses[40] and upward, he formed eighty centuries, forty of seniors[41] +and forty of juniors.[42] All these were called the first class, the +seniors to be in readiness to guard the city, the juniors to carry on +war abroad. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a helmet, +a round shield, greaves, and a coat of mail, all of brass; these were +for the defence of the body: their weapons of offence were a spear and +a sword. To this class were added two centuries of mechanics, who were +to serve without arms: the duty imposed upon them was that of making +military engines in time of war. The second class included all those +whose property varied between seventy-five and a hundred thousand +asses, and of these, seniors and juniors twenty centuries were +enrolled. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a buckler +instead of a shield, and, except a coat of mail, all the rest were the +same. He decided that the property of the third class should amount to +fifty thousand asses: the number of its centuries was the same, and +formed with the same distinction of age: nor was there any change in +their arms, only the greaves were dispensed with. In the fourth class, +the property was twenty-five thousand asses: the same number of +centuries was formed; their arms were changed, nothing being given +them but a spear and a short javelin. The fifth class was larger, +thirty centuries being formed: these carried slings and stones for +throwing. Among them the supernumeraries, the horn-blowers and the +trumpeters, were distributed into three centuries. This class was +rated at eleven thousand asses. Property lower than this embraced the +rest of the citizens, and of them one century was made up which was +exempted from military service. Having thus arranged and distributed +the infantry, he enrolled twelve centuries of knights from among +the chief men of the state. While Romulus had only appointed three +centuries, Servius formed six others under the same names as they had +received at their first institution. Ten thousand asses were given +them out of the public revenue, to buy horses, and a number of widows +assigned them, who were to contribute two thousand asses yearly for +the support of the horses. All these burdens were taken off the poor +and laid on the rich. Then an additional honour was conferred upon +them: for the suffrage was not now granted promiscuously to all--a +custom established by Romulus, and observed by his successors--to +every man with the same privilege and the same right, but gradations +were established, so that no one might seem excluded from the right of +voting, and yet the whole power might reside in the chief men of the +state. For the knights were first called to vote, and then the eighty +centuries of the first class, consisting of the first class of the +infantry: if there occurred a difference of opinion among them, which +was seldom the case, the practice was that those of the second class +should be called, and that they seldom descended so low as to come +down to the lowest class. Nor need we be surprised, that the present +order of things, which now exists, after the number of the tribes was +increased to thirty-five, their number being now double of what it +was, should not agree as to the number of centuries of juniors and +seniors with the collective number instituted by Servius Tullius. For +the city being divided into four districts, according to the regions +and hills which were then inhabited, he called these divisions, +tribes, as I think, from the tribute. For the method of levying taxes +ratably according to the value of property was also introduced by him: +nor had these tribes any relation to the number and distribution of +the centuries. + +The census being now completed, which he had brought to a speedy close +by the terror of a law passed in reference to those who were +not rated, under threats of imprisonment and death, he issued a +proclamation that all the Roman citizens, horse and foot, should +attend at daybreak in the Campus Martius, each in his century. There +he reviewed the whole army drawn up in centuries, and purified it by +the rite called Suovetaurilia,[43] and that was called the closing +of the lustrum, because it was the conclusion of the census. Eighty +thousand citizens are said to have been rated in that survey. Fabius +Pictor, the most ancient of our historians, adds that that was the +number of those who were capable of bearing arms. To accommodate that +vast population the city also seemed to require enlargement. He took +in two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal; then next he enlarged the +Esquiline, and took up his own residence there, in order that dignity +might be conferred upon the place. He surrounded the city with a +rampart, a moat, and a wall:[44] thus he enlarged the pomerium. Those +who regard only the etymology of the word, will have the pomerium to +be a space of ground behind the walls: whereas it is rather a space +on each side of the wall, which the Etruscans, in building cities, +formerly consecrated by augury, within certain limits, both within and +without, in the direction they intended to raise the wall: so that +the houses might not be erected close to the walls on the inside, as +people commonly unite them now, and also that there might be some +space without left free from human occupation. This space, which was +forbidden to be tilled or inhabited, the Romans called pomerium, not +so much from its being behind the wall, as from the wall being behind +it: and in enlarging the boundaries of the city, these onsecrated +limits were always extended, as far as the walls were intended to be +advanced. + +When the population had been increased in consequence of the +enlargement of the city, and everything had been organized at home to +meet the exigencies both of peace and war, that the acquisition of +power might not always depend on mere force of arms, he endeavoured to +extend his empire by policy and at the same time to add some ornament +to the city. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus was even then in high +renown; it was reported that it had been built by all the states of +Asia in common. When Servius, in the company of some Latin nobles with +whom he had purposely formed ties of hospitality and friendship, +both in public and private, extolled in high terms such harmony +and association of their gods, by frequently harping upon the same +subject, he at length prevailed so far that the Latin states agreed +to build a temple of Diana at Rome[45] in conjunction with the Roman +people. This was an acknowledgment that the headship of affairs, +concerning which they had so often disputed in arms, was centred in +Rome. An accidental opportunity of recovering power by a scheme of his +own seemed to present itself to one of the Sabines, though that object +appears to have been left out of consideration by all the Latins, +in consequence of the matter having been so often attempted +unsuccessfully by arms. A cow of surprising size and beauty is said to +have been calved to a certain Sabine, the head of a family: her horns, +which were hung up in the porch of the Temple of Diana, remained for +many ages, to bear record to this marvel. The thing was regarded in +the light of a prodigy, as indeed it was, and the soothsayers declared +that sovereignty should reside in that state, a citizen of which had +sacrificed this heifer to Diana. This prediction had also reached the +ears of the high priest of the Temple of Diana. The Sabine, as soon as +a suitable day for the sacrifice seemed to have arrived, drove the cow +to Rome, led her to the Temple of Diana, and set her before the +altar. There the Roman priest, struck with the size of the victim, so +celebrated by fame, mindful of the response of the soothsayers, thus +accosted the Sabine: "What dost thou intend to do, stranger?" said +he; "with impure hands to offer sacrifice to Diana? Why dost not thou +first wash thyself in running water? The Tiber runs past at the bottom +of the valley." The stranger, seized with religious awe, since he was +desirous of everything being done in due form, that the event might +correspond with the prediction, forthwith went down to the Tiber. In +the meantime the Roman priest sacrificed the cow to Diana, gave great +satisfaction to the king, and to the whole state. + +Servius, though he had now acquired an indisputable right to the +kingdom by long possession, yet, as he heard that expressions were +sometimes thrown out by young Tarquin, to the effect that he occupied +the throne without the consent of the people, having first secured the +good-will of the people by dividing among them, man by man, the land +taken from their enemies, he ventured to propose the question to +them, whether they chose and ordered that he should be king, and +was declared king with greater unanimity than any other of his +predecessors. And yet even this circumstance did not lessen Tarquin's +hope of obtaining the throne; nay, because he had observed that the +matter of the distribution of land to the people was against the will +of the fathers, he thought that an opportunity was now presented to +him of arraigning Servius before the fathers with greater violence, +and of increasing his own influence in the senate, being himself a +hot-tempered youth, while his wife Tullia roused his restless temper +at home. For the royal house of the Roman kings also exhibited an +example of tragic guilt, so that through their disgust of kings, +liberty came more speedily, and the rule of this king, which was +attained through crime, was the last. This Lucius Tarquinius (whether +he was the son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus is not clear: +following the greater number of authorities, however, I should feel +inclined to pronounce him his son) had a brother, Arruns Tarquinius, a +youth of a mild disposition. To these two, as has been already stated, +the two Tullias, daughters of the king, had been married, they also +themselves being of widely different characters. It had come to pass, +through the good fortune, I believe, of the Roman people, that two +violent dispositions should not be united in marriage, in order that +the reign of Servius might last longer, and the constitution of +the state be firmly established. The haughty spirit of Tullia was +chagrined, that there was no predisposition in her husband, either to +ambition or daring. Directing all her regard to the other Tarquinius, +him she admired, him she declared to be a man, and sprung from royal +blood; she expressed her contempt for her sister, because, having a +man for her husband, she lacked that spirit of daring that a woman +ought to possess. Similarity of disposition soon drew them together, +as wickedness is in general most congenial to wickedness; but the +beginning of the general confusion originated with the woman. +Accustomed to the secret conversations of the husband of another, +there was no abusive language that she did not use about her husband +to his brother, about her sister to her sister's husband, asserting +that it would have been better for herself to remain unmarried, and he +single, than that she should be united with one who was no fit mate +for her, so that her life had to be passed in utter inactivity by +reason of the cowardice of another. If the gods had granted her the +husband she deserved, she would soon have seen the crown in possession +of her own house, which she now saw in possession of her father. She +soon filled the young man with her own daring. Lucius Tarquinius and +the younger Tullia, when the pair had, by almost simultaneous murders, +made their houses vacant for new nuptials, were united in marriage, +Servius rather offering no opposition than actually approving. + +Then indeed the old age of Tullius began to be every day more +endangered, his throne more imperilled. For now the woman from one +crime directed her thoughts to another, and allowed her husband no +rest either by night or by day, that their past crimes might not prove +unprofitable, saying that what she wanted was not one whose wife she +might be only in name, or one with whom she might live an inactive +life of slavery: what she wanted was one who would consider himself +worthy of the throne, who would remember that he was the son of +Tarquinius Priscus, who would rather have a kingdom than hope for it. +"If you, to whom I consider myself married, are such a one, I greet +you both as husband and king; but if not, our condition has been +changed so far for the worse, in that in your crime is associated with +cowardice. Why do you not gird yourself to the task? You need not, +like your father, from Corinth or Tarquinii, struggle for a kingdom in +a foreign land. Your household and country's gods, the statue of your +father, the royal palace and the kingly throne in that palace, and the +Tarquinian name, elect and call you king. Or if you have too little +spirit for this, why do you disappoint the state? Why suffer yourself +to be looked up to as a prince? Get hence to Tarquinii or Corinth. +Sink back again to your original stock, more like your brother than +your father." By chiding him with these and other words, she urged on +the young man: nor could she rest herself, at the thought that though +Tanaquil, a woman of foreign birth, had been able to conceive and +carry out so vast a project, as to bestow two thrones in succession on +her husband, and then on her son-in-law, she, sprung from royal blood, +had no decisive influence in bestowing and taking away a kingdom. +Tarquinius, driven on by the blind passion of the woman, began to go +round and solicit the support of the patricians, especially those of +the younger families:[46] he reminded them of his father's kindness, +and claimed a return for it, enticed the young men by presents, +increased his influence everywhere both by making magnificent promises +on his own part, as well as by accusations against the king. At +length, as soon as the time seemed convenient for carrying out his +purpose, he rushed into the forum, accompanied by a band of armed men; +then, while all were struck with dismay, seating himself on the throne +before the senate-house, he ordered the fathers to be summoned to the +senate-house by the crier to attend King Tarquinius. They assembled +immediately, some having been already prepared for this, others +through fear, lest it should prove dangerous to them not to have come, +astounded at such a strange and unheard-of event, and considering that +the reign of Servius was now at an end. Then Tarquinius began his +invectives with his immediate ancestors: That a slave, the son of a +slave, after the shameful death of his father, without an interregnum +being adopted, as on former occasions, without any election being +held, without the suffrages of the people, or the sanction of the +fathers, he had taken possession of the kingdom by the gift of a +woman; that so born, so created king, a strong supporter of the most +degraded class, to which he himself belonged, through a hatred of the +high station of others, he had deprived the leading men of the state +of their land and divided it among the very lowest; that he had laid +all the burdens, which were formerly shared by all alike, on the chief +members of the community; that he had instituted the census, in order +that the fortune of the wealthier citizens might be conspicuous in +order to excite envy, and ready to hand, that out of it he might +bestow largesses on the most needy, whenever he pleased. + +Servius, aroused by the alarming announcement, having come upon the +scene during this harangue, immediately shouted with a loud voice from +the porch of the senate-house: "What means this, Tarquin? By what +audacity hast thou dared to summon the fathers, while I am still +alive, or to sit on my throne?" When the other haughtily replied, +that he, a king's son, was occupying the throne of his father, a much +fitter successor to the throne than a slave; that he had insulted his +masters full long enough by shuffling insolence, a shout arose from +the partisans of both, the people rushed into the senate-house, and it +was evident that whoever came off victor would gain the throne. Then +Tarquin, forced by actual necessity to proceed to extremities, having +a decided advantage both in years and strength, seized Servius by the +waist, and having carried him out of the senate-house, hurled him +down the steps to the bottom. He then returned to the senate house +to assemble the senate. The king's officers and attendants took to +flight. The king himself, almost lifeless (when he was returning home +with his royal retinue frightened to death and had reached the top of +the Cyprian Street), was slain by those who had been sent by Tarquin, +and had overtaken him in his flight. As the act is not inconsistent +with the rest of her atrocious conduct, it is believed to have been +done by Tullia's advice. Anyhow, as is generally admitted, driving +into the forum in her chariot, unabashed by the crowd of men present, +she called her husband out of the senate-house, and was the first to +greet him, king; and when, being bidden by him to withdraw from such a +tumult, she was returning home, and had reached the top of the Cyprian +Street, where Diana's chapel lately stood, as she was turning on the +right to the Urian Hill, in order to ride up to the Esquiline, the +driver stopped terrified, and drew in his reins, and pointed out to +his mistress the body of the murdered Servius lying on the ground. +On this occasion a revolting and inhuman crime is said to have been +committed, and the place bears record of it. They call it the Wicked +Street, where Tullia, frantic and urged on by the avenging furies of +her sister and husband, is said to have driven her chariot over her +father's body, and to have carried a portion of the blood of her +murdered father on her blood-stained chariot, herself also defiled +and sprinkled with it, to her own and her husband's household gods, +through whose vengeance results corresponding with the evil beginning +of the reign were soon destined to follow. Servius Tullius reigned +forty-four years in such a manner that it was no easy task even for a +good and moderate successor to compete with him. However, this also +has proved an additional source of renown to him that together with +him perished all just and legitimate reigns. This same authority, so +mild and so moderate, because it was vested in one man, some say that +he nevertheless had intended to resign, had not the wickedness of his +family interfered with him as he was forming plans for the liberation +of his country. + +After this period Lucius Tarquinius began to reign, whose acts +procured him the surname of Proud, for he, the son-in-law, refused his +father-in-law burial, alleging that even Romulus was not buried after +death. He put to death the principal senators, whom he suspected +of having favoured the cause of Servius. Then, conscious that the +precedent of obtaining the crown by evil means might be borrowed from +him and employed against himself, he surrounded his person with a +body-guard of armed men, for he had no claim to the kingdom except +force, as being one who reigned without either the order of the people +or the sanction of the senate. To this was added the fact that, as he +reposed no hope in the affection of his citizens, he had to secure his +kingdom by terror; and in order to inspire a greater number with this, +he carried out the investigation of capital cases solely by himself +without assessors, and under that pretext had it in his power to put +to death, banish, or fine, not only those who were suspected or hated, +but those also from whom he could expect to gain nothing else but +plunder. The number of the fathers more particularly being in this +manner diminished, he determined to elect none into the senate in +their place, that the order might become more contemptible owing +to this very reduction in numbers, and that it might feel the less +resentment at no business being transacted by it. For he was the first +of the kings who violated the custom derived from his predecessors of +consulting the senate on all matters, and administered the business +of the state by taking counsel with his friends alone. War, peace, +treaties, alliances, all these he contracted and dissolved with +whomsoever he pleased, without the sanction of the people and senate, +entirely on his own responsibility. The nation of the Latins he was +particularly anxious to attach to him, so that by foreign influence +also he might be more secure among his own subjects; and he contracted +ties not only of hospitality but also of marriage with their leading +men. On Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, who was by far the most eminent +of those who bore the Latin name, being descended, if we believe +tradition, from Ulysses and the goddess Circe, he bestowed his +daughter in marriage, and by this match attached to himself many of +his kinsmen and friends. + +The influence of Tarquin among the chief men of the Latins being +now considerable, he issued an order that they should assemble on a +certain day at the grove of Ferentina,[47] saying that there were +matters of common interest about which he wished to confer with them. +They assembled in great numbers at daybreak. Tarquinius himself kept +the day indeed, but did not arrive until shortly before sunset. Many +matters were there discussed in the meeting throughout the day in +various conversations. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia inveighed violently +against the absent Tarquin, saying that it was no wonder the surname +of Proud was given him at Rome; for so they now called him secretly +and in whispers, but still generally. Could anything show more +haughtiness than this insolent mockery of the entire Latin nation? +After their chiefs had been summoned so great a distance from home, +he who had proclaimed the meeting did not attend; assuredly their +patience was being tried, in order that, if they submitted to the +yoke, he might crush them when at his mercy. For who could fail to see +that he was aiming at sovereignty over the Latins? This sovereignty, +if his own countrymen had done well in having intrusted it to him, or +if it had been intrusted and not seized on by murder, the Latins also +ought to intrust to him (and yet not even so, inasmuch as he was a +foreigner). But if his own subjects were dissatisfied with him (seeing +that they were butchered one after another, driven into exile, and +deprived of their property), what better prospects were held out to +the Latins? If they listened to him, they would depart thence, each to +his own home, and take no more notice of the day of meeting than he +who had proclaimed it. When this man, mutinous and full of daring, and +one who had obtained influence at home by such methods, was pressing +these and other observations to the same effect, Tarquin appeared on +the scene. This put an end to his harangue. All turned away from him +to salute Tarquin, who, on silence being proclaimed, being advised by +those next him to make some excuse for having come so late, said that +he had been chosen arbitrator between a father and a son: that, from +his anxiety to reconcile them, he had delayed: and, because that duty +had taken up that day, that on the morrow he would carry out what he +had determined. They say that he did not make even that observation +unrebuked by Turnus, who declared that no controversy could be more +quickly decided than one between father and son, and that it could be +settled in a few words--unless the son submitted to the father, he +would be punished. + +The Arician withdrew from the meeting, uttering these reproaches +against the Roman king. Tarquin, feeling the matter much more sorely +than he seemed to, immediately set about planning the death of Turnus, +in order to inspire the Latins with the same terror as that with which +he had crushed the spirits of his own subjects at home: and because +he could not be put to death openly, by virtue of his authority, he +accomplished the ruin of this innocent man by bringing a false charge +against him. By means of some Aricians of the opposite party, he +bribed a servant of Turnus with gold, to allow a great number +of swords to be secretly brought into his lodging. When these +preparations had been completed in the course of a single night, +Tarquin, having summoned the chief of the Latins to him a little +before day, as if alarmed by some strange occurrence, said that +his delay of yesterday, which had been caused as it were by some +providential care of the gods, had been the means of preservation to +himself and to them; that he had been told that destruction was being +plotted by Turnus for him and the chiefs of the Latin peoples, that he +alone might obtain the government of the Latins. That he would have +attacked them yesterday at the meeting; that the attempt had been +deferred, because the person who summoned the meeting was absent, who +was the chief object of his attack? That that was the reason of the +abuse heaped upon him during his absence, because he had disappointed +his hopes by delaying. That he had no doubt that, if the truth were +told him, he would come attended by a band of conspirators, at break +of day, when the assembly met, ready prepared and armed. That it was +reported that a great number of swords had been conveyed to his house. +Whether that was true or not, could be known immediately. He requested +them to accompany him thence to the house of Turnus. Both the daring +temper of Turnus, and his harangue of the previous day, and the delay +of Tarquin, rendered the matter suspicious, because it seemed possible +that the murder might have been put off in consequence of the latter. +They started with minds inclined indeed to believe, yet determined to +consider everything else false, unless the swords were found. When +they arrived there, Turnus was aroused from sleep, and surrounded +by guards: the slaves, who, from affection to their master, were +preparing to use force, being secured, and the swords, which had been +concealed, drawn out from all corners of the lodging, then indeed +there seemed no doubt about the matter: Turnus was loaded with +chains, and forthwith a meeting of the Latins was summoned amid great +confusion. There, on the swords being exhibited in the midst, such +violent hatred arose against him, that, without being allowed a +defence, he was put to death in an unusual manner; he was thrown into +the basin of the spring of Ferentina, a hurdle was placed over him, +and stones being heaped up in it, he was drowned. + +Tarquin then recalled the Latins to the meeting, and having applauded +them for having inflicted well-merited punishment on Turnus, as +one convicted of murder, by his attempt to bring about a change of +government, spoke as follows: That he could indeed proceed by a +long-established right; because, since all the Latins were sprung from +Alba, they were comprehended in that treaty by which, dating from the +time of Tullus, the entire Alban nation, with its colonies, had passed +under the dominion of Rome. However, for the sake of the interest of +all parties, he thought rather that that treaty should be renewed, and +that the Latins should rather share in the enjoyment of the prosperity +of the Roman people, than be constantly either apprehending or +suffering the demolition of their towns and the devastation of their +lands, which they had formerly suffered in the reign of Ancus, and +afterward in the reign of his own father. The Latins were easily +persuaded, though in that treaty the advantage lay on the side of +Rome: however, they both saw that the chiefs of the Latin nation sided +with and supported the king, and Turnus was a warning example, still +fresh in their recollections, of the danger that threatened each +individually, if he should make any opposition. Thus the treaty was +renewed, and notice was given to the young men of the Latins that, +according to the treaty, they should attend in considerable numbers +in arms, on a certain day, at the grove of Ferentina. And when they +assembled from all the states according to the edict of the Roman +king, in order that they should have neither a general of their own, +nor a separate command, nor standards of their own, he formed mixed +companies of Latins and Romans so as out of a pair of companies to +make single companies, and out of single companies to make a pair: and +when the companies had thus been doubled, he appointed centurions over +them. + +Nor was Tarquin, though a tyrannical prince in time of peace, +an incompetent general in war; nay, he would have equalled his +predecessors in that art, had not his degeneracy in other ways +likewise detracted from his merit in this respect. He first began the +war against the Volsci, which was to last two hundred years after his +time, and took Suessa Pometia from them by storm; and when by the sale +of the spoils he had realized forty talents of silver, he conceived +the idea of building a temple to Jupiter on such a magnificent scale +that it should be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman +Empire, and of the dignity of the place itself: for the building of +this temple he set apart the money realized by the sale of the spoils. +Soon after a war claimed his attention, which proved more protracted +than he had expected, in which, having in vain attempted to storm +Gabii,[48] a city in the neighbourhood, when, after suffering a +repulse from the walls, he was deprived also of all hope of taking it +by siege, he assailed it by fraud and stratagem, a method by no means +natural to the Romans. For when, as if the war had been abandoned, +he pretended to be busily engaged in laying the foundations of the +temple, and with other works in the city, Sextus, the youngest of his +three sons, according to a preconcerted arrangement, fled to Gabii, +complaining of the unbearable cruelty of his father toward himself: +that his tyranny had now shifted from others against his own family, +and that he was also uneasy at the number of his own children, and +intended to bring about the same desolation in his own house as he had +done in the senate, in order that he might leave behind him no issue, +no heir to his kingdom. That for his own part, as he had escaped from +the midst of the swords and weapons of his father, he was persuaded +he could find no safety anywhere save among the enemies of Lucius +Tarquinius: for--let them make no mistake--the war, which it was now +pretended had been abandoned, still threatened them, and he would +attack them when off their guard on a favourable opportunity. But if +there were no refuge for suppliants among them, he would traverse all +Latium, and would apply next to the Volscians, Aequans, and Hernicans, +until he should come to people who knew how to protect children from +the impious and cruel persecutions of parents. That perhaps he would +even find some eagerness to take up arms and wage war against this +most tyrannical king and his equally savage subjects. As he seemed +likely to go further, enraged as he was, if they paid him no regard, +he was kindly received by the Gabians. They bade him not be surprised, +if one at last behaved in the same manner toward his children as he +had done toward his subjects and allies--that he would ultimately vent +his rage on himself, if other objects failed him--that his own coming +was very acceptable to them, and they believed that in a short time it +would come to pass that by his aid the war would be transferred from +the gates of Gabii up to the very walls of Rome. + +Upon this, he was admitted into their public councils, in which, +while, with regard to other matters, he declared himself willing +to submit to the judgment of the elders of Gabii, who were better +acquainted with them, yet he every now and again advised them to renew +the war, claiming for himself superior knowledge in this, on the +ground of being well acquainted with the strength of both nations, +and also because he knew that the king's pride, which even his own +children had been unable to endure, had become decidedly hateful to +his subjects. As he thus by degrees stirred up the nobles of the +Gabians to renew the war, and himself accompanied the most active of +their youth on plundering parties and expeditions, and unreasonable +credit was increasingly given to all his words and actions, framed +as they were with the object of deceiving, he was at last chosen +general-in-chief in the war. In the course of this war when--the +people being still ignorant of what was going on--trifling skirmishes +with the Romans took place, in which the Gabians generally had the +advantage, then all the Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, were +eager to believe that Sextus Tarquinius had been sent to them as their +general, by the favour of the gods. By exposing himself equally +with the soldiers to fatigues and dangers, and by his generosity in +bestowing the plunder, he became so loved by the soldiers, that his +father Tarquin had not greater power at Rome than his son at Gabii. +Accordingly, when he saw he had sufficient strength collected to +support him in any undertaking, he sent one of his confidants to his +father at Rome to inquire what he wished him to do, seeing the gods +had granted him to be all-powerful at Gabii. To this courier no +answer by word of mouth was given, because, I suppose, he appeared of +questionable fidelity. The king went into a garden of the palace, as +if in deep thought, followed by his son's messenger; walking there for +some time without uttering a word, he is said to have struck off +the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff.[49] The messenger, +wearied with asking and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii +apparently without having accomplished his object, and told what +he had himself said and seen, adding that Tarquin, either through +passion, aversion to him, or his innate pride, had not uttered a +single word. As soon as it was clear to Sextus what his father wished, +and what conduct he enjoined by those intimations without words, he +put to death the most eminent men of the city, some by accusing them +before the people, as well as others, who from their own personal +unpopularity were liable to attack. Many were executed publicly, and +some, in whose case impeachment was likely to prove less plausible, +were secretly assassinated. Some who wished to go into voluntary exile +were allowed to do so, others were banished, and their estates, as +well as the estates of those who were put to death, publicly divided +in their absence. Out of these largesses and plunder were distributed; +and by the sweets of private gain the sense of public calamities +became extinguished, till the state of Gabii, destitute of counsel and +assistance, surrendered itself without a struggle into the power of +the Roman king. + +Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the +nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. He +next turned his attention to the affairs of the city. The chief of +these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the +Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind +posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the +son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion +of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to +Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved +to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several +of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the +battle against Romulus, and afterward consecrated and dedicated by +him. At the very outset of the foundation of this work it is said that +the gods exerted their divinity to declare the future greatness of so +mighty an empire; for, though the birds declared for the unhallowing +of all the other chapels, they did not declare themselves in favour +of it in the case of that of Terminus.[51] This omen and augury were +taken to import that the fact of Terminus not changing his residence, +and that he was the only one of the gods who was not called out of +the consecrated bounds devoted to his worship, was a presage of the +lasting stability of the state in general. This being accepted as +an omen of its lasting character, there followed another prodigy +portending the greatness of the empire. It was reported that the head +of a man, with the face entire, was found by the workmen when digging +the foundation of the temple. The sight of this phenomenon by no +doubtful indications portended that this temple should be the seat of +empire, and the capital of the world; and so declared the soothsayers, +both those who were in the city, and those whom they had summoned +from Etruria, to consult on this subject. The king's mind was thereby +encouraged to greater expense; in consequence of which the spoils +of Pometia, which had been destined to complete the work, scarcely +sufficed for laying the foundation. On this account I am more +inclined to believe Fabius (not to mention his being the more ancient +authority), that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who says +that forty thousand pounds of silver by weight were set apart for that +purpose, a sum of money neither to be expected from the spoils of any +one city in those times, and one that would more than suffice for the +foundations of any building, even the magnificent buildings of the +present day. + +Tarquin, intent upon the completion of the temple, having sent for +workmen from all parts of Etruria, employed on it not only the public +money, but also workmen from the people; and when this labour, in +itself no inconsiderable one, was added to their military service, +still the people murmured less at building the temples of the gods +with their own hands, than at being transferred, as they afterward +were, to other works, which, while less dignified, required +considerably greater toil; such were the erection of benches in the +circus, and conducting underground the principal sewer, the receptacle +of all the filth of the city; two works the like of which even modern +splendour has scarcely been able to produce.[52] After the people had +been employed in these works, because he both considered that such +a number of inhabitants was a burden to the city where there was no +employment for them, and further, was anxious that the frontiers of +the empire should be more extensively occupied by sending colonists, +he sent colonists to Signia[53] and Circeii,[54] to serve as defensive +outposts hereafter to the city on land and sea. While he was thus +employed a frightful prodigy appeared to him. A serpent gliding out of +a wooden pillar, after causing dismay and flight in the palace, not so +much struck the king's heart with sudden terror, as it filled him with +anxious solicitude. Accordingly, since Etruscan soothsayers were only +employed for public prodigies, terrified at this so to say private +apparition, he determined to send to the oracle of Delphi, the most +celebrated in the world; and not venturing to intrust the responses of +the oracle to any other person, he despatched his two sons to Greece +through lands unknown at that time, and yet more unknown seas. Titus +and Arruns were the two who set out. They were accompanied by Lucius +Junius Brutus, the son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a youth of an +entirely different cast of mind from that of which he had assumed the +disguise. He, having heard that the chief men of the city, among them +his own brother, had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave +nothing in regard to his ability that might be dreaded by the king, +nor anything in his fortune that might be coveted, and thus to be +secure in the contempt in which he was held, seeing that there was but +little protection in justice. Therefore, having designedly fashioned +himself to the semblance of foolishness, and allowing himself and his +whole estate to become the prey of the king, he did not refuse to take +even the surname of Brutus,[55] that, under the cloak of this surname, +the genius that was to be the future liberator of the Roman people, +lying concealed, might bide its opportunity. He, in reality being +brought to Delphi by the Tarquinii rather as an object of ridicule +than as a companion, is said to have borne with him as an offering to +Apollo a golden rod, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed out +for the purpose, a mystical emblem of his own mind. When they arrived +there, and had executed their father's commission, the young men's +minds were seized with the desire of inquiring to which of them the +sovereignty of Rome should fall. They say that the reply was uttered +from the inmost recesses of the cave, "Young men, whichever of you +shall first kiss his mother shall enjoy the sovereign power at Rome." +The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept secret with the utmost +care, that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might be ignorant +of the response of the oracle, and have no share in the kingdom; they +then cast lots among themselves, to decide which of them should first +kiss his mother, after they had returned to Rome. Brutus, thinking +that the Pythian response had another meaning, as if he had stumbled +and fallen, touched the ground with his lips, she being, forsooth, the +common mother of all mankind. After this they returned to Rome, where +preparations were being made with the greatest vigour for a war +against the Rutulians. + +The Rutulians, a very wealthy nation, considering the country and age +in which they lived, were at that time in possession of Ardea.[56] +Their wealth was itself the actual occasion of the war: for the Roman +king, whose resources had been drained by the magnificence of his +public works, was desirous of enriching himself, and also of soothing +the minds of his subjects by a large present of booty, as they, +independently of the other instances of his tyranny, were incensed +against his government, because they felt indignant that they had been +kept so long employed by the king as mechanics, and in labour only fit +for slaves. An attempt was made, to see if Ardea could be taken at the +first assault; when that proved unsuccessful, the enemy began to be +distressed by a blockade, and by siege-works. In the standing camp, as +usually happens when a war is tedious rather than severe, furloughs +were easily obtained, more so by the officers, however, than the +common soldiers. The young princes also sometimes spent their leisure +hours in feasting and mutual entertainments. One day as they +were drinking in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus +Tarquinius, the son of Egerius, was also at supper, they fell to +talking about their wives. Every one commended his own extravagantly: +a dispute thereupon arising, Collatinus said there was no occasion for +words, that it might be known in a few hours how far his wife Lucretia +excelled all the rest. "If, then," added he, "we have any youthful +vigour, why should we not mount our horses and in person examine the +behaviour of our wives? Let that be the surest proof to every one, +which shall meet his eyes on the unexpected arrival of the husband." +They were heated with wine. "Come on, then," cried all. They +immediately galloped to Rome, where they arrived when darkness was +beginning to fall. From thence they proceeded to Collatia,[57] +where they found Lucretia, not after the manner of the king's +daughters-in-law, whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious +banqueting with their companions, but, although the night was far +advanced, employed at her wool, sitting in the middle of the house in +the midst of her maids who were working around her. The honour of the +contest regarding the women rested with Lucretia. Her husband on his +arrival, and the Tarquinii, were kindly received; the husband, proud +of his victory, gave the young princes a polite invitation. There an +evil desire of violating Lucretia by force seized Sextus Tarquinius; +both her beauty, and her proved chastity urged him on. Then, after +this youthful frolic of the night, they returned to the camp. + +After an interval of a few days, Sextus Tarquinius, without the +knowledge of Collatinus, came to Collatia with one attendant only: +there he was made welcome by them, as they had no suspicion of his +design, and, having been conducted after supper into the guest +chamber, burning with passion, when all around seemed sufficiently +secure, and all fast asleep, he came to the bedside of Lucretia, as +she lay asleep, with a drawn sword, and with his left hand pressing +down the woman's breast, said: "Be silent, Lucretia; I am Sextus +Tarquinius. I have a sword in my hand. You shall die if you utter a +word." When the woman, awaking terrified from sleep, saw there was no +help, and that impending death was nigh at hand, then Tarquin declared +his passion, entreated, mixed threats with entreaties, tried all means +to influence the woman's mind. When he saw she was resolved, and +uninfluenced even by the fear of death, to the fear of death he added +the fear of dishonour, declaring that he would lay a murdered slave +naked by her side when dead, so that it should be said that she had +been slain in base adultery. When by the terror of this disgrace his +lust (as it were victorious) had overcome her inflexible chastity, +and Tarquin had departed, exulting in having triumphed over a woman's +honour by force, Lucretia, in melancholy distress at so dreadful a +misfortune, despatched one and the same messenger both to her father +at Rome, and to her husband at Ardea, bidding them come each with a +trusty friend; that they must do so, and use despatch, for a monstrous +deed had been wrought. Spurius Lucretius came accompanied by Publius +Valerius, the son of Volesus, Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in +company with whom, as he was returning to Rome, he happened to be met +by his wife's messenger. They found Lucretia sitting in her chamber +in sorrowful dejection. On the arrival of her friends the tears burst +from her eyes; and on her husband inquiring, whether all was well, "By +no means," she replied, "for how can it be well with a woman who +has lost her honour? The traces of another man are on your bed, +Collatinus. But the body only has been violated, the mind is +guiltless; death shall be my witness. But give me your right hands, +and your word of honour, that the adulterer shall not come off +unpunished. It is Sextus Tarquinius, who, an enemy last night in +the guise of a guest has borne hence by force of arms, a triumph +destructive to me, and one that will prove so to himself also, if you +be men." All gave their word in succession; they attempted to console +her, grieved in heart as she was, by turning the guilt of the act from +her, constrained as she had been by force, upon the perpetrator of +the crime, declaring that it is the mind sins, not the body; and that +where there is no intention, there is no guilt. "It is for you to +see," said she, "what is due to him. As for me, though I acquit myself +of guilt, I do not discharge myself from punishment; nor shall any +woman survive her dishonour by pleading the example of Lucretia." She +plunged a knife, which she kept concealed beneath her garment, into +her heart, and falling forward on the wound, dropped down expiring. +Her husband and father shrieked aloud. + +While they were overwhelmed with grief, Brutus drew the knife out of +the wound, and, holding it up before him reeking with blood, said: "By +this blood, most pure before the outrage of a prince, I swear, and I +call you, O gods, to witness my oath, that I will henceforth pursue +Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wicked wife, and all their children, +with fire, sword, and all other violent means in my power; nor will +I ever suffer them or any other to reign at Rome." Then he gave the +knife to Collatinus, and after him to Lucretius and Valerius, who were +amazed at such an extraordinary occurrence, and could not understand +the newly developed character of Brutus. However, they all took the +oath as they were directed, and, their sorrow being completely changed +to wrath, followed the lead of Brutus, who from that time ceased not +to call upon them to abolish the regal power. They carried forth the +body of Lucretia from her house, and conveyed it to the forum, where +they caused a number of persons to assemble, as generally happens, +by reason of the unheard-of and atrocious nature of an extraordinary +occurrence. They complained, each for himself, of the royal villainy +and violence. Both the grief of the father affected them, and also +Brutus, who reproved their tears and unavailing complaints, and +advised them to take up arms, as became men and Romans, against those +who dared to treat them like enemies. All the most spirited youths +voluntarily presented themselves in arms; the rest of the young men +followed also. From thence, after an adequate garrison had been left +at the gates at Collatia, and sentinels appointed, to prevent any one +giving intelligence of the disturbance to the royal party, the rest +set out for Rome in arms under the conduct of Brutus. When they +arrived there, the armed multitude caused panic and confusion wherever +they went. Again, when they saw the principal men of the state placing +themselves at their head, they thought that, whatever it might be, +it was not without good reason. Nor did the heinousness of the event +excite less violent emotions at Rome than it had done at Collatia: +accordingly, they ran from all parts of the city into the forum, and +as soon as they came thither, the public crier summoned them to attend +the tribune of the celeres [58], with which office Brutus happened to +be at the time invested. There a harangue was delivered by him, by no +means of the style and character which had been counterfeited by him +up to that day, concerning the violence and lust of Sextus Tarquinius, +the horrid violation of Lucretia and her lamentable death, the +bereavement of Tricipitinus,[59], in whose eyes the cause of his +daughter's death was more shameful and deplorable than that death +itself. To this was added the haughty insolence of the king himself, +and the sufferings and toils of the people, buried in the earth in the +task of cleansing ditches and sewers: he declared that Romans, the +conquerors of all the surrounding states, instead of warriors had +become labourers and stone-cutters. The unnatural murder of King +Servius Tullius was recalled, and the fact of his daughter having +driven over the body of her father in her impious chariot, and the +gods who avenge parents were invoked by him. By stating these and, I +believe, other facts still more shocking, which, though by no means +easy to be detailed by writers, the then heinous state of things +suggested, he so worked upon the already incensed multitude, that they +deprived the king of his authority, and ordered the banishment of +Lucius Tarquinius with his wife and children. He himself, having +selected and armed some of the younger men, who gave in their names as +volunteers, set out for the camp at Ardea to rouse the army against +the king: the command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had been +already appointed prefect of the city by the king. During this tumult +Tullia fled from her house, both men and women cursing her wherever +she went, and invoking upon her the wrath of the furies, the avengers +of parents. + +News of these transactions having reached the camp, when the king, +alarmed at this sudden revolution, was proceeding to Rome to quell the +disturbances, Brutus--for he had had notice of his approach--turned +aside, to avoid meeting him; and much about the same time Brutus and +Tarquinius arrived by different routes, the one at Ardea, the other at +Rome. The gates were shut against Tarquin, and sentence of banishment +declared against him; the camp welcomed with great joy the deliverer +of the city, and the king's sons were expelled. Two of them followed +their father, and went into exile to Caere, a city of Etruria. Sextus +Tarquinius, who had gone to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain +by the avengers of the old feuds, which he had stirred up against +himself by his rapines and murders. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned +twenty-five years: the regal form of government lasted, from the +building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and forty-four +years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius +Collatinus, were elected by the prefect of at the comitia of +centuries, according to the commentaries of Servius Tullius. + + +[Footnote 1: Books I-III are based upon the translation by John Henry +Freese, but in many places have been revised or retranslated by +Duffield Osborne.] + +[Footnote 2: The king was originally the high priest, his office more +sacerdotal than military: as such he would have the selection and +appointment of the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of Vesta, the +hearth-goddess. Their chief duty was to keep the sacred fire burning +("the fire that burns for aye"), and to guard the relics in the Temple +of Vesta. If convicted of unchastity they were buried alive.] + +[Footnote 3: Surely there is no lack of "historical criticism" here +and on a subject where a Roman writer might be pardoned for some +credulity.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 4: Livy ignores the more accepted and prettier tradition +that this event took place where the sacred fig-tree originally stood, +and that later it was miraculously transplanted to the comitium by +Attius Navius, the famous augur, "That it might stand in the midst of +the meetings of the Romans"--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: According to Varro, Rome was founded B.C. 753; according +to Cato, B.C. 751. Livy here derives Roma from Romulus, but this is +rejected by modern etymologists; according to Mommsen the word means +"stream-town," from its position on the Tiber.] + +[Footnote 6: The remarkable beauty of the white or mouse-coloured +cattle of central Italy gives a touch of realism to this story.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The introduction of the art of writing among the Romans +was ascribed to Evander. The Roman alphabet was derived from the +Greek, through the Grecian (Chalcidian) colony at Cumae.] + +[Footnote 8: The title patres originally signified the heads of +families, and was in early times used of the patrician senate, as +selected from these. When later, plebeians were admitted into the +senate, the members of the senate were all called patres, while +patricians, as opposed to plebeians, enjoyed certain distinctions and +privileges.] + +[Footnote 9: This story of the rape of the Sabines belongs to the +class of what are called "etiological" myths--i. e., stories invented +to account for a rite or custom, or to explain local names or +characteristics. The custom prevailed among Greeks and Romans of the +bridegroom pretending to carry off the bride from her home by force. +Such a custom still exists among the nomad tribes of Asia Minor. The +rape of the Sabine women was invented to account for this custom.] + +[Footnote 10: The spolia opima (grand spoils)--a term used to denote +the arms taken by one general from another--were only gained twice +afterward during the history of the republic; in B.C. 437, when A. +Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius of Veii; and in B.C. 222, when +the consul M. Claudius Marcellus slew Viridomarus, chief of the +Insubrian Gauls.] + +[Footnote 11: The place afterward retained its name, even when filled +up and dry. Livy (Book VII) gives a different reason for the name: +that it was so called from one Marcus Curtius having sprung, armed, +and on horseback, several hundred years ago (B.C. 362), into a gulf +that suddenly opened in the forum; it being imagined that it would +not close until an offering was made of what was most valuable in the +state--i. e., a warrior armed and on horseback. According to Varro, +it was a locus fulguritus (i. e., struck by lightning), which was +inclosed by a consul named Curtius.] + +[Footnote 12: Supposed to be derived from "Lucumo," the name or, +according to more accepted commentators, title of an Etruscan chief +who came to help Romulus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 13: The inhabitants of Fidenae, about five miles from Rome, +situated on the Tiber, near Castel Giubileo.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: About twelve and a half miles north of Rome, close to +the little river Cremera; it was one of the most important of the +twelve confederate Etruscan towns. Plutarch describes it as the +bulwark of Etruria: not inferior to Rome in military equipment and +numbers.] + +[Footnote 15: A naïvely circumstantial story characteristically told. +Though a republican, it is quite evident that Livy wishes to convey +the idea that Romulus, having by the creation of a body-guard aspired +to tyrannical power, was assassinated by the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: The reading in this section is uncertain.] + +[Footnote 17: Two interpretations are given of this passage--(1) +that out of each decury one senator was chosen by lot to make up the +governing body of ten; (2) that each decury as a whole held office in +succession, so that one decury was in power for fifty days.] + +[Footnote 18: At this time a grove: later it became one of the +artificers' quarters, lying beyond the forum and in the jaws of the +suburra, which stretched away over the level ground to the foot of the +Esquiline and Quirinal Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the +first month being March, and the number of days in the year only 304, +which corresponded neither with the course of the sun nor moon. Numa, +who added the two months of January and February, divided the year +into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the +lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted +355 days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar +year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days; this in +8 years amounted to (11-1/4 x 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided +into 2 months of 22, and 2 of 23 days [(2 x 22) + (2 x 23) = 90], +and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial +periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only +66 days instead of 90 days--i. e., he inserted 3 months of only 22 +days each. The reason was, because he adopted 355 days as the length +of his lunar year instead of 354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial +periods) produced an error of 24 days; this error was exactly +compensated by intercalating only 66 days (90--24) in the third +octennial period. The intercalations were generally made in the month +of February, after the 23d of the month. The management was left +to the pontiffs--ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent--dies +congruerent; "that the days might correspond to the same +starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out." +That is, taking for instance the Tropic of Cancer for the place or +starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in +that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object +was so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was +observed to arrive at that same meta or starting-point again, should +also be called the 21st of June.] + +[Footnote 20: A more general form of the legend ran to the effect that +but one of these shields fell from heaven, and that the others +were made like it, to lessen the chance of the genuine one being +stolen.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: The chief of the fetiales.] + +[Footnote 22: This vervain was used for religious purposes, and +plucked up by the roots from consecrated ground; it was carried by +ambassadors to protect them from violence.] + +[Footnote 23: This gate became later the starting-point of the Appian +Way.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 24: An imaginary sacred line that marked the bounds of the +city. It did not always coincide with the line of the walls, but was +extended from time to time. Such extension could only be made by +a magistrate who had extended the boundaries of the empire by his +victories,--D.O.] + +[Footnote 25: Literally, "Horatian javelins."--D.O.] + +[Footnote: Evidently so established after the destruction of the +inhabitants in the storming (see p. 17, above).--D. O.] + +[Footnote 27: Tiber and Anio.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 28: Scourging and beheading, scourging to death, burying +alive, and crucifixion (for slaves) may make us question the justice +of this boast. Foreign generals captured in war were only strangled. +Altogether, the Roman indifference to suffering was very marked as +compared with the humanity of the Greeks.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 29: The Lares were of human origin, being only the deified +ancestors of the family: the Penates of divine origin, the tutelary +gods of the family.] + +[Footnote 30: "Curia Hostilia." It was at the northwest corner of the +forum, northeast of the comitium.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 31: Identified with Juno.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 32: This story makes us suspect that it was the case of +another warlike king who had incurred the enmity of the senate. +The patricians alone controlled or were taught in religious +matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 33: Supposed to be an Etruscan goddess, afterward identified +with Jana, the female form of Janus, as was customary with the +Romans.--D.O.] The Janiculum [Footnote: The heights across the +Tiber.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Called Mamertinus; though apparently not until the +Middle Ages.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucumo seems to have been, originally at least, an +Etruscan title rather than name.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: No one was noble who could not show images of his +ancestors: and no one was allowed to have an image who had not filled +the highest offices of state: this was called jus imaginum.] + +[Footnote 37: This part of the Via Nova probably corresponded pretty +closely with the present Via S. Teodoro, and Tarquin's house +is supposed to have stood not far from the church of Sta. +Anastasia.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A white toga with horizontal purple stripes. This was +originally the royal robe. Later it became the ceremonial dress of +the equestrian order. The Salii, priests of Mars Gradivus, also wore +it--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: This was a quinquennial registering of every man's age, +family, profession, property, and residence, by which the amount of +his taxes was regulated. Formerly each full citizen contributed an +equal amount. Servius introduced a regulation of the taxes according +to property qualifications, and clients and plebeians alike had to +pay their contribution, if they possessed the requisite amount of +property.] + +[Footnote 40: Or, "pounds weight of bronze," originally reckoned by +the possession of a certain number of jugera (20 jugera being equal to +5,000 asses).] + +[Footnote 41: Between the ages of forty-six and sixty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: Between the ages of seventeen and forty-six--D.O.]. + +[Footnote 43: A ceremony of purification, from sus, ovis, and taurus: +the three victims were led three times round the army and sacrificed +to Mars. The ceremony took place every fifth year] + +[Footnote 44: These were the walls of Rome down to about 271-276 A.D., +when the Emperor Aurelian began the walls that now inclose the +city. Remains of the Servian wall are numerous and of considerable +extent.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: On the summit of the Aventine.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: Those introduced by Tarquinius Priscus, as related +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: At the foot of the Alban Hill. The general councils of +the Latins were held here up to the time of their final subjugation.] + +[Footnote 48: A few ruins on the Via Praenestina, about nine miles +from the Porta Maggiore, mark the site of Gabii. They are on the bank +of the drained Lago Castiglione, whence Macaulay's "Gabii of the +Pool".--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: This message without words is the same as that which, +according to Herodotus, was sent by Thrasybulus of Miletus to +Periander of Corinth. The trick by which Sextus gained the confidence +of the people of Gabii is also related by him of Zophyrus and Darius.] + +[Footnote 50: The name "Tarpeian," as given from the Tarpeia, whose +story is told above, was generally confined to the rock or precipice +from which traitors were thrown. Its exact location on the Capitoline +Hill does not seem positively determined; in fact, most of the sites +on this hill have been subjects of considerable dispute.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: The god of boundaries. His action seems quite in keeping +with his office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: The Cloaca Maxima, upon which Rome still relies for +much of her drainage, is more generally attributed to Tarquinius +Priscus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: The modern Segni, upward of thirty miles from Rome, on +the Rome-Naples line.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 54: On the coast, near Terracina. The Promontoria Circeo is +the traditional site of the palace and grave of Circe, whose story is +told in the Odyssey.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 55: Dullard.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: In the Pomptine marshes, about twenty miles south of +Rome and five from the coast.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 57: Its site, about nine miles from Rome, on the road to +Tivoli, is now known as Lunghezza.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 58: The royal body-guard. See the story of Romulus +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: Spurius Lucretius.--D.O.] + + + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH + +The acts, civil and military, of the Roman people, henceforth free, +their annual magistrates, and the sovereignty of the laws, more +powerful than that of men, I will now proceed to recount. The haughty +insolence of the last king had caused this liberty to be the more +welcome: for the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all +in succession may be deservedly reckoned founders of those parts +at least of the city, which they independently added as new +dwelling-places for the population, which had been increased by +themselves. Nor is there any doubt that that same Brutus, who gained +such renown from the expulsion of King Superbus, would have acted to +the greatest injury of the public weal, if, through the desire of +liberty before the people were fit for it, he had wrested the kingdom +from any of the preceding kings. For what would have been the +consequence, if that rabble of shepherds and strangers, runaways from +their own peoples, had found, under the protection of an inviolable +sanctuary, either freedom, or at least impunity for former offences, +and, freed from all dread of regal authority, had begun to be +distracted by tribunician storms, and to engage in contests with the +fathers in a strange city, before the pledges of wives and children, +and affection for the soil itself, to which people become habituated +only by length of time, had united their affections? Their condition, +not yet matured, would have been destroyed by discord; but the +tranquillizing moderation of the government so fostered this +condition, and by proper nourishment brought it to such perfection, +that, when their strength was now developed, they were able to bring +forth the wholesome fruits of liberty. The first beginnings of +liberty, however, one may date from this period, rather because +the consular authority was made annual, than because of the royal +prerogative was in any way curtailed. The first consuls kept all the +privileges and outward signs of authority, care only being taken to +prevent the terror appearing doubled, should both have the fasces at +the same time. Brutus, with the consent of his colleague, was first +attended by the fasces, he who proved himself afterward as keen in +protecting liberty as he had previously shown himself in asserting it. +First of all he bound over the people, jealous of their newly-acquired +liberty, by an oath that they would suffer no one to be king in Rome, +for fear that later they might be influenced by the importunities +or bribes of the royal house. Next, that a full house might give +additional strength to the senate, he filled up the number of +senators, which had been diminished by the assassinations of +Tarquinius, to the full number of three hundred, by electing the +principal men of equestrian rank to fill their places: from this is +said to have been derived the custom of summoning into the senate both +the patres and those who were conscripti. They called those who +were elected, conscripti, enrolled, that is, as a new senate. It is +surprising how much that contributed to the harmony of the state, and +toward uniting the patricians and commons in friendship. + +Attention was then paid to religious matters, and, as certain public +functions had been regularly performed by the kings in person, to +prevent their loss being felt in any particular, they appointed a +king of the sacrifices.[1] This office they made subordinate to the +pontifex maximus, that the holder might not, if high office were added +to the title, prove detrimental to liberty, which was then their +principal care. And I do not know but that, by fencing it in on every +side to excess, even in the most trivial matters, they exceeded +bounds. For, though there was nothing else that gave offence, the name +of one of the consuls was an object of dislike to the state. +They declared that the Tarquins had been too much habituated to +sovereignty; that it had originated with Priscus: that Servius Tullius +had reigned next; that Tarquinius Superbus had not even, in spite of +the interval that had elapsed, given up all thoughts of the kingdom +as being the property of another, which it really was, but thought to +regain it by crime and violence, as if it were the heirloom of his +family; that after the expulsion of Superbus, the government was inthe +hands of Collatinus: that the Tarquins knew not how to live in a +private station; that the name pleased them not; that it was dangerous +to liberty. Such language, used at first by persons quietly sounding +the dispositions of the people, was circulated through the whole +state; and the people, now excited by suspicion, were summoned by +Brutus to a meeting. There first of all he read aloud the people's +oath: that they would neither suffer any one to be king, nor allow +any one to live at Rome from whom danger to liberty might arise. He +declared that this ought to be maintained with all their might, and +that nothing, that had any reference to it, ought to be treated with +indifference: that he said this with reluctance, for the sake of the +individual; and that he would not have said it, did not his affection +for the commonwealth predominate; that the people of Rome did not +believe that complete liberty had been recovered; that the regal +family, the regal name, was not only in the state but also in power; +that that was a stumbling-block, was a hindrance to liberty. "Do you, +Lucius Tarquinius," said he, "of your own free will, remove this +apprehension? We remember, we own it, you expelled the royal family; +complete your services: take hence the royal name; your property your +fellow-citizens shall not only hand over to you, by my advice, but, if +it is insufficient, they will liberally supply the want. Depart in a +spirit of friendship. Relieve the state from a dread which may be only +groundless. So firmly are men's minds persuaded that only with the +Tarquinian race will kingly power depart hence." Amazement at so +extraordinary and sudden an occurrence at first impeded the consul's +utterance; then, as he was commencing to speak, the chief men of the +state stood around him, and with pressing entreaties urged the same +request. The rest of them indeed had less weight with him, but +after Spurius Lucretius, superior to all the others in age and high +character, who was besides his own father-in-law, began to try various +methods, alternately entreating and advising, in order to induce him +to allow himself to be prevailed on by the general feeling of the +state, the consul, apprehensive that hereafter the same lot might +befall him, when his term of office had expired, as well as loss of +property and other additional disgrace, resigned his consulship, and +removing all his effects to Lavinium, withdrew from the city. Brutus, +according to a decree of the senate, proposed to the people, that all +who belonged to the family of the Tarquins should be banished from +Rome: in the assembly of centuries he elected Publius Valerius, with +whose assistance he had expelled the kings, as his colleague. + +Though nobody doubted that a war was impending from the Tarquins, yet +it broke out later than was generally expected; however, liberty was +well-nigh lost by fraud and treachery, a thing they never apprehended. +There were among the Roman youth several young men--and these of no +no rank--who, while the regal government lasted, had enjoyed greater +license in their pleasures, being the equals in age, boon companions +of the young Tarquins, and accustomed to live after the fashion of +princes. Missing that freedom, now that the privileges of all were +equalized,[2] they complained among themselves that the liberty of +others had turned out slavery for them: that a king was a human being, +from whom one could obtain what one wanted, whether the deed might be +an act of justice or of wrong; that there was room for favour and +good offices; that he could be angry, and forgive; that he knew the +difference between a friend and an enemy; that the laws were a deaf, +inexorable thing, more beneficial and advantageous for the poor than +for the rich; that they allowed no relaxation or indulgence, if one +transgressed due bounds; that it was perilous, amid so many human +errors, to have no security for life but innocence. While their minds +were already of their own accord thus discontented, ambassadors from +the royal family arrived unexpectedly, merely demanding restitution of +their personal property, without any mention of their return. After +their application had been heard in the senate, the deliberation about +it lasted for several days, as they feared that the non-restitution of +the property might be made a pretext for war, its restitution a fund +and assistance for the same. In the meantime the ambassadors were +planning a different scheme: while openly demanding the restoration of +property, they secretly concerted measures for recovering the throne, +and soliciting them, as if to promote that which appeared to be the +object in view, they sounded the minds of the young nobles; to those +by whom their proposals were favourably received they gave letters +from the Tarquins, and conferred with them about admitting the royal +family into the city secretly by night. + +The matter was first intrusted to the brothers Vitellii and Aquilii. A +sister of the Vitellii was married to Brutus the consul, and the issue +of that marriage was the grown-up sons, Titus and Tiberius; they also +were admitted by their uncles to share the plot; several young nobles +also were taken into their confidence, recollection of whose names has +been lost from lapse of time. In the meantime, as that opinion had +prevailed in the Senate, which was in favour of the property being +restored, the ambassadors made use of this as a pretext for lingering +in the city, and the time which they had obtained from the consuls +to procure conveyances, in which to remove the effects of the royal +family, they spent entirely in consultations with the conspirators, +and by persistent entreaties succeeded in getting letters given to +them for the Tarquins. Otherwise how could they feel sure that the +representations made by the ambassadors on matters of such importance +were not false? The letters, given as an intended pledge of their +sincerity, caused the plot to be discovered: for when, the day before +the ambassadors set out to the Tarquins, they had supped by chance at +the house of the Vitellii, and the conspirators had there discoursed +much together in private, as was natural, concerning their +revolutionary design, one of the slaves, who had already observed what +was on foot, overheard their conversation; he waited, however, for the +opportunity when the letters should be given to the ambassadors, the +detection of which would put the matter beyond a doubt. When he found +that they had been given, he laid the whole affair before the consuls. +The consuls left their home to seize the ambassadors and conspirators, +and quashed the whole affair without any disturbance, particular care +being taken of the letters, to prevent their being lost or stolen. +The traitors were immediately thrown into prison: some doubt was +entertained concerning the treatment of the ambassadors, and though +their conduct seemed to justify their being considered as enemies, the +law of nations nevertheless prevailed. + +The consideration of the restoration of the king's effects, for which +the senate had formerly voted, was laid anew before them. The fathers, +overcome by indignation, expressly forbade either their restoration or +confiscation. They were given to the people to be rifled, that, having +been polluted as it were by participation in the royal plunder, they +might lose forever all hopes of reconciliation with the Tarquins. A +field belonging to the latter, which lay between the city and the +Tiber, having been consecrated to Mars, was afterward called the +Campus Martius. It is said that there was by chance, at that time, a +crop of corn upon it ripe for harvest; this produce of the field, as +they thought it unlawful to use it, after it had been reaped, a large +number of men, sent into the field together, carried in baskets corn +and straw together, and threw it into the Tiber, which then was +flowing with shallow water, as is usual in the heat of summer; thus +the heaps of corn as they stuck in the shallows settled down, covered +over with mud; by means of these and other substances carried down to +the same spot, which the river brings along hap-hazard, an island[3] +was gradually formed. Afterward I believe that substructures were +added, and that aid was given by human handicraft, that the surface +might be well raised, as it is now and strong enough besides to bear +the weight even of temples and colonnades. After the tyrant's effects +had been plundered, the traitors were condemned and punishment +inflicted. This punishment was the more noticeable, because the +consulship imposed on the father the office of punishing his own +children, and to him, who should have been removed even as a +spectator, was assigned by fortune the duty of carrying out the +punishment. Young men of the highest rank stood bound to the stake; +but the consul's sons diverted the eyes of all the spectators from the +rest of the criminals, as from persons unknown; and the people felt +pity, not so much on account of their punishment, as of the crime by +which they had deserved it. That they, in that year above all others, +should have brought themselves to betray into the hands of one, who, +formerly a haughty tyrant, was now an exasperated exile, their country +recently delivered, their father its deliverer, the consulate which +took its rise from the Junian family, the fathers, the people, and +all the gods and citizens of Rome. The consuls advanced to take their +seats, and the lictors were despatched to inflict punishment. The +young men were stripped naked, beaten with rods, and their heads +struck off with the axe, while all the time the looks and countenance +of the father presented a touching spectacle, as his natural feelings +displayed themselves during the discharge of his duty in inflicting +public punishment. After the punishment of the guilty, that the +example might be a striking one in both aspects for the prevention of +crime, a sum of money was granted out of the treasury as a reward +to the informer: liberty also and the rights of citizenship were +conferred upon him. He is said to have been the first person made free +by the vindicta; some think that even the term vindicta is derived +from him, and that his name was Vindicius. [4] After him it was +observed as a rule, that all who were set free in this manner were +considered to be admitted to the rights of Roman citizens. + +On receiving the announcement of these events as they had occurred, +Tarquin, inflamed not only with grief at the annihilation of such +great hopes, but also with hatred and resentment, when he saw that the +way was blocked against stratagem, considering that war ought to +be openly resorted to, went round as a suppliant to the cities of +Etruria, imploring above all the Veientines and Tarquinians, not to +suffer him, a man sprung from themselves, of the same stock, to perish +before their eyes, an exile and in want, together with his grown-up +sons, after they had possessed a kingdom recently so flourishing. That +others had been invited to Rome from foreign lands to succeed to the +throne; that he, a king, while engaged in extending the Roman Empire +by arms, had been driven out by his nearest relatives by a villainous +conspiracy, that they had seized and divided his kingdom in portions +among themselves, because no one individual among them was deemed +sufficiently deserving of it: and had given up his effects to the +people to pillage, that no one might be without a share in the guilt. +That he was desirous of recovering his country and his kingdom, and +punishing his ungrateful subjects. Let them bring succour and aid him; +let them also avenge the wrongs done to them of old, the frequent +slaughter of their legions, the robbery of their land. These arguments +prevailed on the people of Veii, and with menaces they loudly +declared, each in their own name, that now at least, under the conduct +of a Roman general, their former disgrace would be wiped out, and what +they had lost in war would be recovered. His name and relationship +influenced the people of Tarquinii, for it seemed a high honour that +their countrymen should reign at Rome. Accordingly, the armies of +these two states followed Tarquin to aid in the recovery of his +kingdom, and to take vengeance upon the Romans in war. When they +entered Roman territory, the consuls marched to meet the enemy. +Valerius led the infantry in a square battalion: Brutus marched in +front with the cavalry to reconnoitre. In like manner the enemy's +horse formed the van of the army: Arruns Tarquinius, the king's son, +was in command: the king himself followed with the legions. Arruns, +when he knew at a distance by the lictors that it was a consul, and on +drawing nearer more surely discovered that it was Brutus by his face, +inflamed with rage, cried out: "Yonder is the man who has driven us +into exile from our native country! See how he rides in state adorned +with the insignia of our rank! Now assist me, ye gods, the avengers of +kings." He put spurs to his horse and charged furiously against the +consul. Brutus perceived that he was being attacked, and, as it was +honourable in those days for the generals to personally engage in +battle, he accordingly eagerly offered himself for combat. They +charged with such furious animosity, neither of them heedful of +protecting his own person, provided he could wound his opponent, that +each, pierced through the buckler by his adversary's blow, fell from +his horse in the throes of death, still transfixed by the two spears. +The engagement between the rest of the horse began at the same time, +and soon after the foot came up. There they fought with varying +success, and as it were with equal advantage. The right wings of both +armies were victorious, the left worsted. The Veientines, accustomed +to defeat at the hands of the Roman soldiers, were routed and put to +flight. The Tarquinians, who were a new foe, not only stood their +ground, but on their side even forced the Romans to give way. + +After the engagement had thus been fought, so great a terror seized +Tarquinius and the Etruscans, that both armies, the Veientine and +Tarquinian, abandoning the attempt as a fruitless one, departed by +night to their respective homes. Strange incidents are also reported +in the account of this battle--that in the stillness of the next night +a loud voice was heard from the Arsian wood;[5] that it was believed +to be the voice of Silvanus. That the following words were uttered: +that more of the Tuscans by one man had fallen in the fight: that the +Romans were victorious in the war. Under these circumstances, the +Romans departed thence as conquerors, the Etruscans as practically +conquered. For as soon as it was light, and not one of the enemy was +to be seen anywhere, Publius Valerius, the consul, collected the +spoils, and returned thence in triumph to Rome. He celebrated the +funeral of his colleague with all the magnificence possible at the +time. But a far greater honour to his death was the public sorrow, +especially remarkable in this particular, that the matrons mourned him +for a year as a parent, because he had shown himself so vigorous an +avenger of violated chastity. Afterward, the consul who survived--so +changeable are the minds of the people--after enjoying great +popularity, encountered not only jealousy, but suspicion, that +originated with a monstrous charge. Report represented that he was +aspiring to kingly power, because he had not substituted a colleague +in the room of Brutus, and was building on the top of Mount Velia:[6] +that an impregnable stronghold was being erected there in an elevated +and well-fortified position. These reports, widely circulated and +believed, disquieted the consul's mind at the unworthiness of the +charge; and, having summoned the people to an assembly, he mounted the +platform, after lowering the fasces. It was a pleasing sight to the +multitude that the insignia of authority were lowered before them, and +that acknowledgment was made, that the dignity and power of the people +were greater than that of the consul. Then, after they had been +bidden to listen, the consul highly extolled the good fortune of his +colleague, in that, after having delivered his country, he had died +while still invested with the highest rank, fighting in defence of the +commonwealth, when his glory was at its height, and had not yet turned +to jealousy. He himself (said he) had outlived his glory, and only +survived to incur accusation and odium: that, from being the liberator +of his country, he had fallen back to the level of the Aquilii and +Vitellii. "Will no merit then," said he, "ever be so approved in your +eyes as to be exempt from the attacks of suspicion? Was I to apprehend +that I, that bitterest enemy of kings, should myself have to submit +to the charge of desiring kingly power? Was I to believe that, even +though I should dwell in the citadel and the Capitol itself, I should +be dreaded by my fellow-citizens? Does my character among you depend +on so mere a trifle? Does your confidence in me rest on such slight +foundations, that it matters more where I am than what I am? The +house of Publius Valerius shall not stand in the way of your liberty, +Quirites; the Velian Mount shall be secure to you. I will not only +bring down my house into the plain, but will build it beneath the +hill, that you may dwell above me, the suspected citizen. Let those +build on the Velian Mount, to whom liberty can be more safely +intrusted than to Publius Valerius." Immediately all the materials +were brought down to the foot of the Velian Mount, and the house was +built at the foot of the hill, where the Temple of Vica Pota[7] now +stands. + +After this laws were proposed by the consul, such as not only freed +him from all suspicion of aiming at regal power, but had so contrary +a tendency, that they even made him popular. At this time he was +surnamed Publicola. Above all, the laws regarding an appeal to the +people against the magistrates, and declaring accursed the life and +property of any one who should have formed the design of seizing regal +authority,[8] were welcome to the people. Having passed these laws +while sole consul, so that the merit of them might be exclusively his +own, he then held an assembly for the election of a new colleague. +Spurius Lucretius was elected consul, who, owing to his great age, and +his strength being inadequate to discharge the consular duties, died +within a few days. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was chosen in the room of +Lucretius. In some ancient authorities I find no mention of Lucretius +as consul; they place Horatius immediately after Brutus. My own belief +is that, because no important event signalized his consulate, all +record of it has been lost. The Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol had +not yet been dedicated; the conuls Valerius and Horatius cast lots +which should dedicate it. The duty fell by lot to Horatius. Publicola +departed to conduct the war against the Veientines. The friends of +Valerius were more annoyed than the circumstances demanded that the +dedication of so celebrated a temple was given to Horatius. Having +endeavoured by every means to prevent it, when all other attempts had +been tried and failed, at the moment when the consul was holding the +door-post during his offering of prayer to the gods, they suddenly +announced to him the startling intelligence that his son was dead, and +that, while his family was polluted by death, he could not dedicate +the temple. Whether he did not believe that it was true, or whether +he possessed such great strength of mind, is neither handed down for +certain, nor is it easy to decide. On receiving the news, holding the +door-post, without turning off his attention in any other way from the +business he was engaged completed the form of prayer, and dedicated +the temple. Such were the transactions at home and abroad during +the first year after the expulsion of the kings. After this Publius +Valerius, for the second time, and Titus Lucretius were elected +consuls. + +By this time the Tarquins had fled to Lars Porsina, King of Clusium. +There, mingling advice with entreaties, they now besought him not to +suffer them, who were descended from the Etruscans, and of the same +stock and name, to live in exile and poverty; now advised him also not +to let the rising practice of expelling kings pass unpunished. Liberty +in itself had charms enough; and, unless kings defended their thrones +with as much vigour as the people strove for liberty, the highest was +put on a level with the lowest; there would be nothing exalted in +states, nothing to be distinguished above the rest; that the end of +regal government, the most beautiful institution both among gods and +men, was close at hand. Porsina, thinking it a great honour to the +Tuscans both that there should be a king at Rome, and that one +belonging to the Etruscan nation, marched toward Rome with a hostile +army. Never before on any other occasion did such terror seize the +senate; so powerful was the state of Clusium[9] at that time, and so +great the renown of Porsina. Nor did they dread their enemies only, +but even their own citizens, lest the common people of Rome, smitten +with fear, should, by receiving the Tarquins into the city, accept +peace even at the price of slavery. Many concessions were therefore +granted to the people by the senate during that period by way of +conciliating them. Their attention, in the first place, was directed +to the markets, and persons were sent, some to the country of the +Volscians, others to Cumae, to buy up corn. The privilege of selling +salt also was withdrawn from private individuals because it was sold +at an exorbitant price, while all the expense fell upon the state:[10] +and the people were freed from duties and taxes, inasmuch as the rich, +since they were in a position to bear the burden, should contribute +them; the poor, they said, paid taxes enough if they brought up their +children. This indulgence on the part of the fathers accordingly kept +the state so united during their subsequent adversity in time of siege +and famine, that the lowest as much as the highest abhorred the name +of king; nor did any single individual afterward gain such popularity +by intriguing practices, as the whole body of the senate at that time +by their excellent government. + +On the approach of the enemy, they all withdrew for protection from +the country into the city, and protected the city itself with military +garrisons. Some parts seemed secured by the walls, others by the Tiber +between. The Sublician [11] bridge well-nigh afforded a passage to +the enemy, had it not been for one man, Horatius Cocles: in him the +protecting spirit of Rome on that day found a defence. He happened to +be posted on guard at the bridge: and, when he saw the Janiculum taken +by a sudden assault, and the enemy pouring down from thence at full +speed, and his own party, in confusion, abandoning their arms and +ranks, seizing hold of them one by one, standing in their way, and +appealing to the faith of gods and men, he declared, that their flight +would avail them nothing if they deserted their post; if they crossed +the bridge and left it behind them, there would soon be greater +numbers of the enemy in the Palatium and Capitol than in the +Janiculum; therefore he advised and charged them to break down the +bridge, by sword, by fire, or by any violent means whatsoever; that +he himself would receive the attack of the enemy as far as resistance +could be offered by the person of one man. He then strode to the front +entrance of the bridge, and being easily distinguished among those +whose backs were seen as they gave way before the battle, he struck +the enemy with amazement by his surprising boldness as he faced round +in arms to engage the foe hand to hand. Two, however, a sense of shame +kept back with him, Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, both men of +high birth, and renowned for their gallant exploits. With them he for +a short time stood the first storm of danger, and the severest brunt +of the battle. Afterward, as those who were cutting down the bridge +called upon them to retire, and only a small portion of it was left, +he obliged them also to withdraw to a place of safety. Then, casting +his stern eyes threateningly upon all the nobles of the Etruscans, he +now challenged them singly, now reproached them all as the slaves of +haughty tyrants, who, unmindful of their own freedom, came to attack +that of others. For a considerable time they hesitated, looking round +one upon another, waiting to begin the fight. A feeling of shame then +stirred the army, and raising a shout, they hurled their weapons from +all sides on their single adversary; and when they had all stuck in +the shield he held before him, and he with no less obstinacy kept +possession of the bridge with firm step, they now began to strive to +thrust him down from it by their united attack, when the crash of the +falling bridge, and at the same time the shout raised by the Romans +for joy at having completed their task, checked their assault with +sudden consternation. Then Cocles said, "Father Tiberinus, holy one, I +pray thee, receive these arms, and this thy soldier, in thy favouring +stream." So, in full armour, just as he was, he leapedinto the Tiber, +and, amid showers of darts that fell upon him, swam across unharmed to +his comrades, having dared a deed which is likely to obtain more fame +than belief with posterity.[12] The state showed itself grateful +toward such distinguished valour; a statue of him was erected in the +comitium, and as much land was given to him as he could draw a furrow +round in one day with a plough. The zeal of private individuals also +was conspicuous in the midst of public honours. For, notwithstanding +the great scarcity, each person contributed something to him in +proportion to his private means, depriving himself of his own means of +support. + +Porsina, repulsed in his first attempt, having changed his plans to a +siege of the city, and a blockade, and pitched his camp in the plain +and on the bank of the Tiber, placed a garrison in the Janiculum. +Then, sending for boats from all parts, both to guard the river, so as +to prevent any provisions being conveyed up stream to Rome, and also +that his soldiers might get across to plunder in different places as +opportunity offered, in a short time he so harassed all the country +round Rome, that not only was everything else conveyed out of the +country, but even the cattle were driven into the city, and nobody +ventured to drive them without the gates. This liberty of action was +granted to the Etruscans, not more from fear than from design: for the +consul Valerius, eager for an opportunity of falling unawares upon a +number of them together in loose order, careless of taking vengeance +in trifling matters, reserved himself as a serious avenger for more +important occasions. Accordingly, in order to draw out the pillagers, +he ordered a large body of his men to drive out their cattle the next +day by the Esquiline gate, which was farthest from the enemy, thinking +that they would get intelligence of it, because during the blockade +and scarcity of provisions some of the slaves would turn traitors and +desert. And in fact they did learn by the information of a deserter, +and parties far more numerous than usual crossed the river in the hope +of seizing all the booty at once. Then Publius Valerius commanded +Titus Herminius, with a small force, to lie in ambush at the second +milestone on the road to Gabii, and Spurius Larcius, with a party of +light-armed youths, to post himself at the Colline gate while the +enemy was passing by, and then to throw himself in their way to cut +off their return to the river. The other consul, Titus Lucretius, +marched out of the Naevian gate with some companies of soldiers, while +Valerius himself led some chosen cohorts down from the Colan Mount. +These were the first who were seen by the enemy. Herminius, when he +perceived the alarm, rushed from his ambush and fell upon the rear of +the Etruscans, who had turned against Valerius. The shout was returned +on the right and left, from the Colline gate on the one side and +the Naevian on the other. Thus the plunderers were put to the sword +between both, being neither their match in strength for fighting, and +all the ways being blocked up to prevent escape: this put an end to +the disorderly raids of the Etruscans. + +The blockade, however, was carried on none the less, and corn was both +scarce and very dear. Porsina still entertained the hope that, by +continuing the blockade, he would be able to reduce the city, when +Gaius Mucius, a young noble, who considered it a disgrace that the +Roman people, who, even when in a state of slavery, while under the +kings, had never been confined within their walls during any war, or +blockaded by any enemy, should now, when a free people, be blockaded +by these very Etruscans whose armies they had often routed--and +thinking that such disgrace ought to be avenged by some great and +daring deed, at first designed on his own responsibility to make his +way into the enemy's camp. Then, being afraid that, if he went without +the permission of the consuls, and unknown to all, he might perhaps be +seized by the Roman guards and brought back as a deserter, since the +circumstances of the city at the time rendered such a charge credible, +he approached the senate. "Fathers," said he, "I desire to cross +the Tiber, and enter the enemy's camp, if I may be able, not as +a plunderer, nor as an avenger to exact retribution for their +devastations: a greater deed is in my mind, if the gods assist." The +senate approved. He set out with a dagger concealed under his garment. +When he reached the camp, he stationed himself where the crowd was +thickest, near the king's tribunal. There, as the soldiers happened +to be receiving their pay, and the king's secretary, sitting by him, +similarly attired, was busily engaged, and generally addressed by +the soldiers, he killed the secretary, against whom chance blindly +directed the blow, instead of the king, being afraid to ask which of +the two was Porsina, lest, by displaying his ignorance of the king, +he should disclose who he himself was. As he was moving off in the +direction where with his bloody dagger he had made a way for himself +through the dismayed multitude, the crowd ran up on hearing the noise, +and he was immediately seized and brought back by the king's guards: +being set before the king's tribunal, even then, amid the perilous +fortune that threatened him, more capable of inspiring dread than +of feeling it, "I am," said he, "a Roman citizen; men call me Gaius +Mucius; an enemy, I wished to slay an enemy, nor have I less courage +to suffer death than I had to inflict it. Both to do and to suffer +bravely is a Roman's part. Nor have I alone harboured such feelings +toward you; there follows after me a long succession of aspirants to +the same honour. Therefore, if you choose, prepare yourself for this +peril, to be in danger of your life from hour to hour: to find the +sword and the enemy at the very entrance of your tent: such is the war +we, the youth of Rome, declare against you; dread not an army in the +field, nor a battle; you will have to contend alone and with each of +us one by one." When the king, furious with rage, and at the same time +terrified at the danger, threateningly commanded fires to be kindled +about him, if he did not speedily disclose the plots, at which in his +threats he had darkly hinted, Mucius said, "See here, that you may +understand of how little account the body is to those who have great +glory in view"; and immediately thrust his right hand into the fire +that was lighted for sacrifice. When he allowed it to burn as if +his spirit were quite insensible to any feeling of pain, the king, +well-nigh astounded at this surprising sight, leaped from his seat and +commanded the young man to be removed from the altar. "Depart," said +he, "thou who hast acted more like an enemy toward thyself than toward +me. I would bid thee go on and prosper in thy valour, if that valour +were on the side of my country. I now dismiss thee unharmed and +unhurt, exempt from the right of war." Then Mucius, as if in return +for the kindness, said: "Since bravery is held in honour with you, +that you may obtain from me by your kindness that which you could not +obtain by threats, know that we are three hundred, the chief of the +Roman youth, who have conspired to attack you in this manner. The +lot fell upon me first. The rest will be with you each in his turn, +according to the fortune that shall befall me who drew the first lot, +until fortune on some favourable opportunity shall have delivered you +into their hands." + +Mucius, to whom the surname of Scaevola[13] was afterward given from +the loss of his right hand, was let go and ambassadors from Porsina +followed him to Rome. The danger of the first attempt, in which +nothing had protected him but the mistake of his secret assailant, +and the thought of the risk of life he would have to run so often in +proportion to the number of surviving conspirators that remained, made +so strong an impression upon him that of his own accord he offered +terms of peace to the Romans. In these terms the restoration of the +Tarquins to the throne was proposed and discussed without success, +rather because he felt he could not refuse that to the Tarquins, than +from ignorance that it would be refused him by the Romans. In regard +to the restoration of territory to the Veientines his request was +granted, and the obligation of giving hostages, if they wished the +garrison to be withdrawn from the Janiculum, was extorted from the +Romans. Peace being concluded on these terms, Porsina led his troops +down from the Janiculum, and withdrew from Roman territory. The +fathers bestowed upon Gaius Mucius, in reward for his valour, some +land on the other side of the Tiber, which was afterward called the +Mucian meadows. By this honour paid to valour women also were roused +to deeds that brought glory to the state. Among others, a young woman +named Claelia, one of the hostages, escaped her keepers, and, as the +camp of the Etruscans had been pitched not far from the bank of the +Tiber, swam over the river, amid the darts of the enemy, at the head +of a band of maidens, and brought them all back in safety to their +relations at Rome. When news of this was brought to the king, at +first, furious with rage, he sent deputies to Rome to demand the +hostage Claelia, saying that he did not set great store by the rest: +afterward, his feelings being changed to admiration, he said that +this deed surpassed those of men like Cocles and Mucius, and further +declared that, as he would consider the treaty broken if the hostage +were not delivered up, so, if she were given up, he would send her +back unharmed and unhurt to her friends. Both sides kept faith: the +Romans restored their pledge of peace according to treaty: and with +the Etruscan king valour found not only security, but also honour; +and, after praising the maiden, he promised to give her, as a present, +half the hostages, allowing her to choose whom she pleased. When they +had all been led forth, she is said to have picked out those below the +age of puberty, a choice which both reflected honour upon her maiden +delicacy, and was one likely to be approved of by consent of the +hostages themselves--that those who were of such an age as was most +exposed to injury should above all others be delivered from the enemy. +Peace being renewed, the Romans rewarded this instance of bravery +uncommon in a woman with an uncommon kind of honour: an equestrian +statue, which, representing a maiden sitting on horseback, was erected +at the top of the Via Sacra.[14] + +The custom handed down from the ancients, and which has continued down +to our times among other usages at public sales, that of selling +the goods of King Porsina, is inconsistent with this account of so +peaceful a departure of the Etruscan king from the city. The origin +of this custom must either have arisen during the war, and not been +abandoned in time of peace, or it must have grown from a milder +beginning than the form of expression seems, on the face of it, to +indicate, of selling the goods as if taken from an enemy. Of the +accounts handed down, the most probable is, that Porsina, when +retiring from the Janiculum, made a present to the Romans of his camp +rich with stores of provisions conveyed from the neighbouring fertile +fields of Etruria, as the city was then exhausted owing to the long +siege: that then, to prevent its contents being plundered as if it +belonged to an enemy when the people were admitted, they were sold, +and called the goods of Porsina, the expression rather conveying the +idea of a thankworthy gift than an auction of the king's property, +seeing that this never even came into the power of the Roman people. +Porsina, having abandoned the war against the Romans, that his army +might not seem to have been led into those parts to no purpose, +sent his son Arruns with part of his forces to besiege Aricia. The +unexpected occurrence at first terrified the Aricians: afterward aid, +which had been sent for, both from the people of Latium and from +Cumæ,[15] inspired such hope that they ventured to try the issue of a +pitched battle. At the beginning of the battle the Etruscans attacked +so furiously that they routed the Aricians at the first onset. But the +Cuman cohorts, employing stratagem against force, moved off a little +to one side, and when the enemy were carried beyond them in loose +array, they wheeled round and attacked them in the rear. By this means +the Etruscans, when on the point of victory, were hemmed in and cut to +pieces. A very small number of them, having lost their general, and +having no nearer refuge, came to Rome without their arms, in the +plight and guise of suppliants. There they were kindly received and +distributed in different lodgings. When their wounds had been attended +to, some with. Affection for their hosts and for the city caused many +others to remain at Rome: a quarter was assigned them to dwell in, +which has ever since been called the Tuscan Street.[16] + +Spurius Lucretius and Publius Valerius Publicola were next elected +consuls. In that year ambassadors came from Porsina for the last time, +to discuss the restoration of Tarquin to the throne. And when answer +had been given them, that the senate would send deputies to the king, +the most distinguished of that order were forthwith despatched to +explain that it was not because the answer could not have been given +in a few words--that the royal family would not be received--that +select members of the senate had been deputed to him, rather than an +answer given to his ambassadors at Rome, but in order that all mention +of the matter might be put an end to forever, and that their minds +might not be disturbed amid so many mutual acts of kindness on both +sides, by his asking what was adverse to the liberty of the Roman +people, and by their refusing him (unless they were willing to promote +their own destruction) whom they would willingly refuse nothing. That +the Roman people were not now under a kingly government, but in the +enjoyment of freedom, and were accordingly resolved to open their +gates to enemies sooner than to kings. That it was the wish of all, +that the end of their city's freedom might also be the end of the city +itself. Wherefore, if he wished Rome to be safe, they entreated him +to suffer it to be free. The king, overcome by feelings of respect, +replied: "Since that is your firm and fixed resolve, I will neither +annoy you by importunities, by urging the same request too often to no +purpose, nor will I disappoint the Tarquins by holding out hopes of +aid, which it is not in my power to give them; whether they have need +of peace, or of war, let them go hence and seek another place of +exile, that nothing may hinder the peace between us." To kindly words +he added deeds still more friendly: he delivered up the remainder of +the hostages, and restored to them the land of the Veientines, which +had been taken from them by the treaty concluded at the Janiculum. +Tarquin, now that all hope of return was cut off, went into exile to +Tusculum [17] to his son-in-law Octavius Mamilius. Thus a lasting +peace was concluded between Porsina and the Romans. + +The next consuls were Marcus Valerius and Publius Postumius. During +that year war was carried on successfully against the Sabines; the +consuls received the honour of a triumph. Upon this the Sabines made +preparations for war on a larger scale. To make head against them, and +to prevent any sudden danger arising from Tusculum, from which quarter +war, though not openly declared, was suspected, Publius Valerius was +created consul a fourth time, and Titus Lucretius a second time. A +disturbance that arose among the Sabines between the advocates of +war and of peace transferred considerable strength from them to the +Romans. For Attius Clausus, who was afterward called Appius Claudius +at Rome, being himself an advocate of peace, when hard pressed by +the agitators for war, and being no match for the party, fled from +Regillum to Rome, accompanied by a great number of dependents. The +rights of citizenship and land on the other side of the Anio were +bestowed on them. This settlement was called the old Claudian tribe, +and was subsequently increased by the addition of new tribesmen who +kept arriving from that district. Appius, being chosen into the +senate, was soon after advanced to the rank of the highest in that +order. The consuls entered the territories of the Sabines with a +hostile army, and when, both by laying waste their country, and +afterward by defeating them in battle, they had so weakened the power +of the enemy that for a long time there was no reason to dread the +renewal of the war in that quarter, they returned to Rome in triumph. +The following year, Agrippa Menenius and Publius Postumius being +consuls, Publius Valerius, by universal consent the ablest man in +Rome, in the arts both of peace and war, died covered with glory, but +in such straitened private circumstances that there was not enough +to defray the expenses of a public funeral: one was given him at +the public charge. The matrons mourned for him as they had done for +Brutus. The same year two Latin colonies, Pometia and Cora,[18] +revolted to the Auruncans.[19] War was commenced against the +Auruncans, and after a large army, which boldly met the consuls +as they were entering their frontiers, had been defeated, all the +operations of the Auruncan war were concentrated at Pometia. Nor, +after the battle was over, did they refrain from slaughter any more +than when it was going on: the number of the slain was considerably +greater than that of the prisoners, and the latter they put to death +indiscriminately. Nor did the wrath of war spare even the hostages, +three hundred in number, whom they had received. This year also the +consuls celebrated a triumph at Rome. + +The succeeding consuls, Opiter Verginius and Spurius Cassius, first +endeavoured to take Pometia by storm, and afterward by means of +mantlets [20] and other works. But the Auruncans, stirred up against +them more by an irreconcilable hatred than induced by any hopes of +success, or by a favourable opportunity, having sallied forth, more of +them armed with lighted torches than swords, filled all places with +fire and slaughter. Having fired the mantlets, slain and wounded many +of the enemy, they almost succeeded in slaying one of the consuls, who +had been thrown from his horse and severely wounded: which of them it +was, authorities do not mention. Upon this the Romans returned to the +city unsuccessful: the consul was taken back with many more wounded, +with doubtful hope of his recovery. After a short interval, sufficient +for attending to their wounds and recruiting their army, they attacked +Pometia with greater fury and increased strength. When, after the +mantlets and the other military works had been repaired, the soldiers +were on the point of mounting the walls, the town surrendered. Yet, +though the town had surrendered, the Auruncans were treated with no +less cruelty than if it had been taken by assault: the chief men were +beheaded: the rest, who were colonists, were sold by auction, the town +was razed, and the land sold. The consuls obtained a triumph more from +having violently gratified their[21] resentment than in consequence of +the importance of the war thus concluded. + +In the following year Postumus Cominius and Titus Larcius were +consuls. In that year, during the celebration of the games at Rome, as +some courtesans were being carried off by some of the Sabine youth +in wanton frolic, a crowd assembled, a quarrel ensued, and almost +a battle: and in consequence of this trifling occurrence the whole +affair seemed to point to a renewal of hostilities, which inspired +even more apprehension than a Latin war. Their fears were further +increased, because it was known for certain that thirty different +states had already entered into a confederacy against them, at the +instigation of Octavius Mamilius. While the state was troubled during +the expectation of such important events, the idea of nominating a +dictator was mentioned for the first time. + +But in what year, or who the consuls were in whom confidence was not +reposed, because they belonged to the party of the Tarquins--for that +also is reported--or who was elected dictator for the first time, is +not satisfactorily established. Among the oldest authorities, however, +I find that Titus Larcius was appointed the first dictator, and +Spurius Cassius master of the horse. They chose men of consular +dignity: so the law that was passed for the election of a dictator +ordained. For this reason, I am more inclined to believe that Larcius, +who was of consular rank, was attached to the consuls as their +director and superior, rather than Manius Valerius, the son of Marcus +and grandson of Volesus, who had not vet been consul. Moreover, had +they intended a dictator to be chosen from that family under any +circumstances, they would much rather have chosen his father, Marcus +Valerius, a man of consular rank, and of approved merit. On the first +creation of the dictator at Rome, when they saw the axes carried +before him, great awe came upon the people,[22] so that they became +more attentive to obey orders. For neither, as was the case under the +consuls, who possessed equal power, could the assistance of one of +them be invoked, nor was there any appeal, nor any chance of redress +but in attentive submission. The creation of a dictator at Rome also +terrified the Sabines, and the more so because they thought he was +created on their account. Accordingly, they sent ambassadors to treat +concerning peace. To these, when they earnestly entreated the dictator +and senate to pardon a youthful offence, the answer was given, that +the young men might be forgiven, but not the old, seeing that they +were continually stirring up one war after another. Nevertheless they +continued to treat about peace, which would have been granted, if the +Sabines had brought themselves to make good the expenses incurred +during the war, as was demanded. War was proclaimed; a truce, however, +with the tacit consent of both parties, preserved peace throughout the +year. + +Servius Sulpicius and Manius Tullius were consuls the next year: +nothing worth mentioning happened. Titus Aebutius and Gaius Vetusius +succeeded. In their consulship Fideae was besieged, Crustumeria taken, +and Præneste[23] revolted from the Latins to the Romans. Nor was the +Latin war, which had now been fomenting for several years, any longer +deferred. Aulus Postumius the dictator, and Titus Aebutius his master +of the horse, setting out with a numerous army of horse and foot, +met the enemy's forces at the Lake Regillus,[24] in the territory of +Tusculum, and, because it was rumoured that the Tarquins were in the +army of the Latins, their rage could not be restrained, so that +they immediately came to an engagement. Accordingly, the battle was +considerably more severe and fierce than others. For the generals +were present not only to direct matters by their instructions, but, +exposing their own persons, they met in combat. And there was hardly +one of the principal officers of either army who came off unwounded, +except the Roman dictator. As Postumius was encouraging his men in the +first line, and drawing them up in order, Tarquinius Superbus, though +now advanced in years and enfeebled, urged on his horse to attack him: +and, being wounded in the side, he was carried off by a party of his +men to a place of safety. In like manner, on the other wing, Aebutius, +master of the horse, had charged Octavius Mamilius; nor was his +approach unobserved by the Etruscan general, who in like manner +spurred his horse against him. And such was their impetuosity as they +advanced with lances couched, that Aebutius was pierced through the +arm and Mamilius run through the breast. The Latins received the +latter into their second line; Aebutius, as he was unable to wield +his lance with his wounded arm, retired from the battle. The Latin +general, no way discouraged by his wound, stirred up the fight: and, +because he saw that his own men were disheartened, sent for a company +of Roman exiles, commanded by the son of Lucius Tarquinius. This body, +inasmuch as they fought with greater fury, owing to the loss of their +country, and the seizure of their estates, for a while revived the +battle. + +When the Romans were now beginning to give ground in that quarter, +Marcus Valerius, brother of Publicola, having observed young Tarquin +boldly parading himself at the head of his exiles, fired besides with +the renown of his house, that the family, which had gained glory by +having expelled the kings, might also have the glory of destroying +them, put spurs to his horse, and with his javelin couched made toward +Tarquin. Tarquin retreated before his infuriated foe to a battalion of +his own men. As Valerius rode rashly into the line of the exiles, one +of them attacked him and ran him sideways through the body, and as the +horse was in no way impeded by the wound of his rider, the Roman sank +to the ground expiring, with his arms falling over his body. Postumius +the dictator, seeing the fall of so distinguished a man, and that the +exiles were advancing boldly at a run, and his own men disheartened +and giving ground, gave the signal to his own cohort, a chosen body of +men which he kept for the defence of his person, to treat every Roman +soldier, whom they saw fleeing from the battle, as an enemy. Upon this +the Romans, in fear of the danger on both sides, turned from flight +and attacked the enemy, and the battle was restored. The dictator's +cohort then for the first time engaged in the fight, and with persons +and courage unimpaired, fell on the wearied exiles, and cut them +to pieces. There another engagement took place between the leading +officers. The Latin general, on seeing the cohort of the exiles +almost surrounded by the Roman dictator, hurried up some companies of +reserves to the front. Titus Herminius, a lieutenant-general, seeing +them advancing in a body, and recognising Mamilius, distinguished +among them by his armour and dress, encountered the leader of the +enemy with violence so much greater than the master of the horse had +shown a little before, that at one thrust he ran him through the +side and slew him. While stripping the body of his enemy, he himself +received a wound with a javelin, and, though brought back to the camp +victorious, died while it was being dressed. Then the dictator hurried +up to the cavalry, entreating them, as the infantry were tired out, to +dismount and take up the fight. They obeyed his orders, dismounted, +flew to the front, and, taking the place of the first line, covered +themselves with their targets. The infantry immediately recovered +their courage when they saw the young nobles sustaining a share of the +danger with them, the mode of fighting being now the same for +all. Then at length the Latins were beaten back, and their line, +disheartened, gave way. The horses were then brought up to the +cavalry, that they might pursue the enemy: the infantry likewise +followed. Thereupon the dictator, disregarding nothing that held out +hope of divine or human aid, is said to have vowed a temple to Castor, +and to have promised rewards to the first and second of the soldiers +who should enter the enemy's camp. Such was the ardour of the Romans +that they took the camp with the same impetuosity wherewith they had +routed the enemy in the field. Such was the engagement at the Lake +Regillus. + +The dictator and master of the horse returned to the city in triumph. +For the next three years there was neither settled peace nor open war. +The consuls were Q. Cloelius and T. Larcius. They were succeeded by +A. Sempronius and M. Minucius. During their consulship a temple was +dedicated to Saturn and the festival of the Saturnalia instituted. +The next consuls were A. Postumius and T. Verginius. I find in some +authors this year given as the date of the battle at Lake Regillus, +and that A. Postumius laid down his consulship because the fidelity +of his colleague was suspected, on which a Dictator was appointed. So +many errors as to dates occur, owing to the order in which the consuls +succeeded being variously given, that the remoteness in time of both +the events and the authorities make it impossible to determine either +which consuls succeeded which, or in what year any particular event +occurred. Ap. Claudius and P. Servilius were the next consuls. This +year is memorable for the news of Tarquin's death. His death took +place at Cuma, whither he had retired, to seek the protection of the +tyrant Aristodemus after the power of the Latins was broken. The news +was received with delight by both senate and plebs. But the elation of +the patricians was carried to excess. Up to that time they had treated +the commons with the utmost deference, now their leaders began to +practice injustice upon them. The same year a fresh batch of colonists +was sent to complete the number at Signia, a colony founded by King +Tarquin. The number of tribes at Rome was increased to twenty-one. The +temple of Mercury was dedicated on May 15. + +The relations with the Volscians during the Latin war were neither +friendly nor openly hostile. The Volscians had collected a force which +they were intending to send to the aid of the Latins had not the +Dictator forestalled them by the rapidity of his movements, a rapidity +due to his anxiety to avoid a battle with the combined armies. To +punish them the consuls led the legions into the Volscian country. +This unexpected movement paralysed the Volscians, who were not +expecting retribution for what had been only an intention. Unable +to offer resistance, they gave as hostages three hundred children +belonging to their nobility, drawn from Cora and Pometia. The legions, +accordingly, were marched back without fighting. Relieved from the +immediate danger, the Volscians soon fell back on their old policy, +and after forming an armed alliance with the Hernicans, made secret +preparations for war. They also despatched envoys through the length +and breadth of Latium to induce that nation to join them. But after +their defeat at Lake Regillus the Latins were so incensed against +every one who advocated a resumption of hostilities that they did not +even spare the Volscian envoys, who were arrested and conducted to +Rome. There they were handed over to the consuls and evidence was +produced showing that the Volscians and Hernicans were preparing for +war with Rome. When the matter was brought before the senate, they +were so gratified by the action of the Latins that they sent back six +thousand prisoners who had been sold into slavery, and also referred +to the new magistrates the question of a treaty which they had +hitherto persistently refused to consider. The Latins congratulated +themselves upon the course they had adopted, and the advocates of +peace were in high honour. They sent a golden crown as a gift to +the Capitoline Jupiter. The deputation who brought the gift were +accompanied by a large number of the released prisoners, who visited +the houses where they had worked as slaves to thank their former +masters for the kindness and consideration shown them in their +misfortunes, and to form ties of hospitality with them. At no +previous period had the Latin nation been on more friendly terms both +politically and personally with the Roman government. + +But a war with the Volscians was imminent, and the State was torn with +internal dissensions; the patricians and the plebeians were bitterly +hostile to one another, owing mainly to the desperate condition of the +debtors. They loudly complained that whilst fighting in the field +for liberty and empire they were oppressed and enslaved by their +fellow-citizens at home; their freedom was more secure in war than +in peace, safer amongst the enemy than amongst their own people. The +discontent, which was becoming of itself continually more embittered, +was still further aggravated by the striking sufferings of an +individual. A man advanced in years rushed into the forum with the +tokens of his utter misery upon him. His clothes were covered with +filth, his personal appearance still more pitiable, pale, and +emaciated. In addition, a long beard and hair gave a wild look to his +countenance. Notwithstanding his wretched appearance however, he +was recognised, and people said that he had been a centurion, and, +compassionating him, recounted other distinctions that he had gained +in war: he himself exhibited scars on his breast in front, which bore +witness to honourable battles in several places. When they repeatedly +inquired the reason of his plight, and wretched appearance, a crowd +having now gathered round him almost like a regular assembly, he said, +that, while serving in the Sabine war, because he had not only been +deprived of the produce of his land in consequence of the depredations +of the enemy, but his residence had also been burned down, all his +effects pillaged, his cattle driven off, and a tax imposed on him at a +time when it pressed most hardly upon him, he had got into debt: that +this debt, increased by exorbitant interest, had stripped him first of +his father's and grandfather's farm, then of all his other property; +lastly that, like a wasting sickness, it had reached his person: that +he had been dragged by his creditor, not into servitude, but into a +house of correction and a place of torture. He then showed his back +disfigured with the marks of recent scourging. At this sight and these +words a great uproar arose. The tumult now no longer confined itself +to the forum, but spread everywhere through the entire city. The +nexi,[25] both those who were imprisoned, and those who were now at +liberty, hurried into the streets from all quarters and implored the +protection of the Quirites. Nowhere was there lack of volunteers to +join the disturbance. They ran in crowds through all the streets, from +all points, to the forum with loud shouts. Such of the senators as +happened to be in the forum fell in with this mob at great peril to +themselves; and it might not have refrained from actual violence +had not the consuls, Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius, hastily +interfered to quell the disturbance. The multitude, however, turning +toward them, and showing their chains and other marks of wretchedness, +said that they deserved all this,[26] mentioning, each of them, in +reproachful terms, the military services performed by himself, by +one in one place, by another in another. They called upon them with +menaces, rather than entreaties, to assemble the senate, and stood +round the senate-house in a body, determined themselves to be +witnesses and directors of the public resolves. Very few of the +senators, whom chance had thrown in the way, were got together by the +consuls; fear kept the rest away not only from the senate-house, but +even from the forum, and no business could be transacted owing to +their small attendance. Then indeed the people began to think they +were being tricked, and put off: and that such of the senators as +absented themselves did so not through accident or fear, but with the +express purpose of obstructing business: that the consuls themselves +were shuffling, that their miseries were without doubt held up to +ridicule. Matters had now almost come to such a pass that not even +the majesty of the consuls could restrain the violence of the people. +Wherefore, uncertain whether they would incur greater danger by +staying at home, or venturing abroad, they at length came into the +senate; but, though the house was now by this time full, not only were +the senators unable to agree, but even the consuls themselves. Appius, +a man of violent temperament, thought the matter ought to be settled +by the authority of the consuls, and that, if one or two were seized, +the rest would keep quiet. Servilius, more inclined to moderate +remedies, thought that, while their minds were in this state of +excitement, they could be bent with greater ease and safety than they +could be broken. + +Meanwhile an alarm of a more serious nature presented itself. Some +Latin horse came full speed to Rome, with the alarming news that the +Volscians were marching with a hostile army to besiege the city. +This announcement--so completely had discord split the state into +two--affected the senators and people in a far different manner. The +people exulted with joy, and said that the gods were coming to take +vengeance on the tyranny of the patricians. They encouraged one +another not to give in their names,[27] declaring that it was better +that all should perish together than that they should perish alone. +Let the patricians serve as soldiers; let the patricians take up arms, +so that those who reaped the advantages of war should also undergo its +dangers. But the senate, dejected and confounded by the double alarm +they felt, inspired both by their own countryman and by the enemy, +entreated the consul Servilius, whose disposition was more inclined to +favour the people, that he would extricate the commonwealth, beset as +it was with so great terrors. Then the consul, having dismissed the +senate, came forward into the assembly. There he declared that the +senate were solicitous that the interests of the people should be +consulted: but that alarm for the safety of the whole commonwealth had +interrupted their deliberation regarding that portion of the state, +which, though indeed the largest portion, was yet only a portion: nor +could they, seeing that the enemy were almost at the gates, allow +anything to take precedence of the war: nor, even though there should +be some respite, was it either to the credit of the people not to have +taken up arms in defence of their country unless they first received +pay, nor consistent with the dignity of the senators to have adopted +measures of relief for the distressed fortunes of their countrymen +through fear rather than afterward of their own free will. He then +further gave his speech the stamp of sincerity by an edict, by which +he ordained that no one should detain a Roman citizen either in chains +or in prison, so that he would thereby be deprived of the opportunity +of enrolling his name under the consuls, and that no one should either +take possession of or sell the goods of any soldier, while on service, +or detain his children or grandchildren in custody for debt. On +the publication of this edict, both the debtors who were present +immediately gave in their names, and crowds of persons, hastening from +all quarters of the city from private houses, as their creditors had +no right to detain their persons, ran together into the forum, to take +the military oath. These made up a considerable body of men, nor did +any others exhibit more conspicuous bravery or activity during the +Volscian war. The consul led out his forces against the enemy, and +pitched his camp at a little distance from them. + +The next night the Volscians, relying on the dissension among the +Romans, made an attempt on their camp, to see if there were any chance +of desertion or treachery during the night. The sentinels on guard +perceived them: the army was called up, and, the signals being given, +they ran to arms. Thus the attempt of the Volscians was frustrated; +the remainder of the night was given up to repose on both sides. The +next morning at daybreak the Volscians, having filled the trenches, +attacked the rampart. And already the fortifications were being +demolished on every side, when the consul, after having delayed a +little while for the purpose of testing the feelings of the soldiers, +although all from every quarter, and before all the debtors, were +crying out for him to give the signal, at length, when their great +eagerness became unmistakable, gave the signal for sallying forth, and +let out the soldiery impatient for the fight. At the very first onset +the enemy was routed; the fugitives were harassed in the rear, as far +as the infantry were able to follow them: the cavalry drove then in +consternation up to their camp. In a short time the legions having +been drawn around it, the camp itself was taken and plundered, since +panic had driven the Volscians even from thence also. On the next +day the legions were led to Suessa Pometia, whither the enemy had +retreated. In a few days the town was taken, and, after being taken, +was given up for plunder, whereby the needs of the soldiers were +somewhat relieved. The consul led back his victorious army to Rome +with the greatest renown to himself. On his departure for Rome, he was +met by the deputies of the Ecetrans, a tribe of the Volscians, who +were alarmed for the safety of their state after the capture of +Pometia. By a decree of the senate peace was granted them, but they +were deprived of their land. + +Immediately after this the Sabines also frightened the Romans: for it +was rather an alarm than a war. News was brought into the city during +the night that a Sabine army had advanced as far as the river Anio, +plundering the country: that the country houses there were being +pillaged and set fire to indiscriminately. Aulus Postumius, who had +been dictator in the Latin war, was immediately sent thither with all +the cavalry forces. The consul Servilius followed him with a picked +body of infantry. The cavalry cut off most of the stragglers; nor +did the Sabine legions make any resistance against the battalion of +infantry when it came up with them. Tired both by their march and +nightly raids, surfeited with eating and drinking in the country +houses, a great number of them had scarcely sufficient strength to +flee. Thus the Sabine war was heard of and finished in a single night. +On the following day, when all were sanguine that peace had been +secured in every quarter, ambassadors from the Auruncans presented +themselves before the senate, threatening to declare war unless the +troops were withdrawn from the Volscian territory. The army of the +Auruncans had set out from home at the same time as the ambassadors, +and the report that this army had been seen not far from Aricia threw +the Romans into such a state of confusion that neither could the +senate be consulted in regular form, nor could the Romans, while +themselves taking up arms, give a pacific answer to those who were +advancing to attack them. They marched to Aricia in hostile array, +engaged with the Auruncans not far from that town and in one battle +the war was ended. + +After the defeat of the Auruncans, the people of Rome, victorious in +so many wars within a few days, were looking to the consul to fulfill +his promises, and to the senate to keep their word, when Appius, both +from his natural pride, and in order to undermine the credit of his +colleague, issued a decree concerning borrowed money in the harshest +possible terms. From this time, both those who had been formerly in +confinement were delivered up to their creditors, and others also were +taken into custody. Whenever this happened to any soldier, he appealed +to the other consul. A crowd gathered about Servilius: they threw his +promises in his teeth, severally upbraiding him with their services in +war, and the scars they had received. They called upon him either +to lay the matter before the senate, or, as consul, to assist his +fellow-citizens, as commander, his soldiers. These remonstrances +affected the consul, but the situation of affairs obliged him to act +in a shuffling manner: so completely had not only his colleague, +but the whole of the patrician party, enthusiastically taken up the +opposite cause. And thus, by playing a middle part, he neither escaped +the odium of the people, nor gained the favour of the senators. +The patricians looked upon him as wanting in energy and a +popularity-hunting consul, the people, as deceitful: and it soon +became evident that he had become as unpopular as Appius himself. A +dispute had arisen between the consuls, as to which of them should +dedicate the Temple of Mercury. The senate referred the matter from +themselves to the people, and ordained that, to whichever of them the +task of dedication should be intrusted by order of the people, he +should preside over the markets, establish a guild of merchants,[28] +and perform the ceremonies in presence of the Pontifex Maximus. The +people intrusted the dedication of the temple to Marcus Laetorius, a +centurion of the firstrank, which, as would be clear to all, was done +not so muchout of respect to a person on whom an office above his rank +had been conferred, as to affront the consuls. Upon this one of the +consuls particularly, and the senators were highly incensed: however, +the people had gained fresh courage, and proceeded in quite a +different manner to what they had at first intended. For when they +despaired of redress from the consuls and senate, whenever they saw a +debtor led into court, they rushed together from all quarters. Neither +could the decree of the consul be heard distinctly for the noise and +shouting, nor, when he had pronounced the decree, did any one obey +it. Violence was the order of the day, and apprehension and danger in +regard to personal liberty was entirely transferred from the debtors +to the creditors, who were individually maltreated by the crowd before +the very eyes of the consul. In addition, the dread of the Sabine war +spread, and when a levy was decreed, nobody gave in his name: Appius +was enraged, and bitterly inveighed against the self-seeking conduct +of his colleague, in that he, by the inactivity he displayed to win +the favour of the people, was betraying the republic, and, besides not +having enforced justice in the matter of debt, likewise neglected +even to hold a levy, in obedience to the decree of the senate. Yet +he declared that the commonwealth was not entirely deserted, nor the +consular authority altogether degraded; that he, alone and unaided, +would vindicate both his own dignity and that of the senators. When +day by day the mob, emboldened by license, stood round him, he +commanded a noted ringleader of the seditious outbreaks to be +arrested. He, as he was being dragged off by the lictors, appealed +to the people; nor would the consul have allowed the appeal, because +there was no doubt regarding the decision of the people, had not his +obstinacy been with difficulty overcome, rather by the advice and +influence of the leading men, than by the clamours of the people; with +such a superabundance of courage was he endowed to support the weight +of public odium. The evil gained ground daily, not only by open +clamours, but, what was far more dangerous, by secession and by secret +conferences. At length the consuls, so odious to the commons, resigned +office, Servilius liked by neither party, Appius highly esteemed by +the senators. + +Then Aulus Verginius and Titus Vetusius entered on the consulship. +Upon this the commons, uncertain what sort of consuls they were likely +to have, held nightly meetings, some of them upon the Esquiline, and +others upon the Aventine, lest, when assembled in the forum, they +should be thrown into confusion by being obliged to adopt hasty +resolutions, and proceed inconsiderately and at hap-hazard. The +consuls, judging this proceeding to be of dangerous tendency, as it +really was, laid the matter before the senate. But, when it was laid +before them, they could not get them to consult upon it regularly; it +was received with an uproar on all sides, and by the indignant shouts +of the fathers, at the thought that the consuls threw on the senate +the odium for that which should have been carried out by consular +authority. Assuredly, if there were real magistrates in the republic, +there would have been no council at Rome but a public one. As it was, +the republic was divided and split into a thousand senate-houses and +assemblies, some meetings being held on the Esquiline, others on the +Aventine. One man, like Appius Claudius--for such a one was of more +value than a consul--would have dispersed those private meetings in a +moment. When the consuls, thus rebuked, asked them what it was that +they desired them to do, declaring that they would carry it out with +as much energy and vigour as the senators wished, the latter issued +a decree that they should push on the levy as briskly as possible +declaring that the people had become insolent from want of employment. +When the senate had been dismissed, the consuls assembled the tribunal +and summoned the younger men by name. When none of them answered to +his name, the people, crowding round after the manner of a general +assembly, declared that the people could no longer be imposed on: that +they should never enlist one single soldier unless the engagement made +publicly with the people were fulfilled: that liberty must be restored +to each before arms should be given, that so they might fight for +their country and fellow-citizens, and not for lords and masters. The +consuls understood the orders of the senate, but saw none of those who +talked so big within the walls of the senate-house present themselves +to share the odium they would incur. In fact, a desperate contest with +the commons seemed at hand. Therefore, before they had recourse to +extremities, they thought it advisable to consult the senate a second +time. Then indeed all the younger senators almost flew to the chairs +of the consuls, commanding them to resign the consulate, and lay aside +an office which they lacked the courage to support. + +Both plans having been sufficiently made proof of, the consuls at +length said: "Conscript fathers, that you may not say that you have +not been forewarned, know that a great disturbance is at hand. We +demand that those who accuse us most loudly of cowardice shall assist +us when holding the levy; we will proceed according to the resolution +of the most intrepid among you, since it so pleases you." Returning +to their tribunal, they purposely commanded one of the leaders of the +disturbance, who were in sight, to be summoned by name. When he stood +without saying a word, and a number of men stood round him in a ring, +to prevent violence being offered, the consuls sent a lictor to seize +him, but he was thrust back by the people. Then, indeed, those of +the fathers who attended the consuls, exclaiming against it as an +intolerable insult, hurried down from the tribunal to assist the +lictor. But when the violence of the people was turned from the +lictor, who had merely been prevented from arresting the man, against +the fathers, the riot was quelled by the interposition of consuls, +during which, however, without the use of stones or weapons, there was +more noise and angry words than actual injury inflicted. The senate, +summoned in a tumultuous manner was consulted in a manner still more +tumultuous, those who had been beaten demanding an inquiry, and the +most violent of them attempting to carry their point, not so much by +votes as by clamour and bustle. At length, when their passion had +subsided, and the consuls reproached them that there was no more +presence of mind in the senate than in the forum, the matter began to +be considered in order. Three different opinions were held. Publius +Verginius was against extending relief to all. He voted that they +should consider only those who, relying on the promise of Publius +Servilius the consul, had served in the war against the Volscians, +Auruncans, and Sabines. Titus Larcius was of opinion, that it was not +now a fitting time for services only to be rewarded: that all the +people were overwhelmed with debt, and that a stop could not be put to +the evil, unless measures were adopted for the benefit of all: nay, +further, if the condition of different parties were different discord +would thereby rather be inflamed than healed. Appius Claudius, being +naturally of a hard disposition, and further infuriated by the hatred +of the commons on the one hand, and the praises of the senators on the +other, insisted that such frequent riots were caused not by distress, +but by too much freedom: that the people were rather insolent than +violent: that this mischief, in fact, took its rise from the right of +appeal; since threats, not authority, was all that remained to the +consuls, while permission was given to appeal to those who were +accomplices in the crime. "Come," added he, "let us create a dictator +from whom there lies no appeal, and this madness, which has set +everything ablaze, will immediately subside. Then let me see the man +who will dare to strike a lictor, when he shall know that that person, +whose authority he has insulted, has sole and absolute power to flog +and behead him." + +To many the opinion of Appius appeared, as in fact it was, harsh and +severe. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius +appeared injurious, from the precedent they established: that of +Larcius they considered especially so, as one that would destroy all +credit. The advice of Verginius, was reckoned to be most moderate, and +a happy medium between the other two. But through party spirit and +men's regard for their private interest, which always has and always +will stand in the way of public councils, Appius prevailed, and was +himself near being created dictator--a step which would certainly +have alienated the commons at a most dangerous juncture, when the +Volscians, the Aequans, and the Sabines all happened to be in arms at +the same time. But the consuls and elders of the senate took care that +this command, in its own nature uncontrollable, should be intrusted +to a man of mild disposition. They elected Marcus Valerius son of +Volesus, dictator. The people, though they saw that this magistrate +was appointed against themselves, yet, as they possessed the right of +appeal by his brother's law, had nothing harsh or tyrannical to fear +from that family. Afterward an edict published by the dictator, which +was almost identical in terms with that of the consul Servilius, +further inspirited them. But, thinking reliance could be more safely +placed both in the man and in his authority,[29] they abandoned the +struggle and gave in their names. Ten legions were raised, a larger +army than had ever been raised before.[30] Of these, each of the +consuls had three legions assigned him; the dictator commanded four. + +The war could not now be any longer deferred. The Aequans had invaded +the territory of the Latins: the deputies of the latter begged the +senate either to send them assistance, or to allow them to arm +themselves for the purpose of defending their own frontiers. It seemed +safer that the Latins should be defended without their being armed, +than to allow them to handle arms again. Vetusius the consul was sent +to their assistance: thereby a stop was put to the raids. The Aequans +retired from the plains, and depending more on the advantages of +position than on their arms, secured themselves on the heights of the +mountains. The other consul, having set out against the Volscians, +lest he in like manner might waste time,[31] provoked the enemy to +pitch their camp nearer, and to risk a regular engagement, by ravaging +their lands. Both armies stood ready to advance, in front of their +lines, in hostile array, in a plain between the two camps. The +Volscians had considerably the advantage in numbers: accordingly, they +entered into battle in loose order, and in a spirit of contempt. The +Roman consul neither advanced his forces, nor allowed the enemy's +shouts to be returned, but ordered his men to stand with their spears +fixed in the ground, and whenever the enemy came to a hand-to-hand +encounter, to draw their swords, and attacking them with all their +force, to carry on the fight. The Volscians, wearied with running and +shouting attacked the Romans, who appeared to them paralyzed with +fear; but when they perceived the vigorous resistance that was made, +and saw the swords glittering before their eyes, just as if they had +fallen into an ambuscade, they turned and fled in confusion. Nor had +they sufficient strength even to flee as they had entered into action +at full speed. The Romans, on the other hand, as they had quietly +stood their ground at the beginning of the action, with physical +vigour unimpaired, easily overtook the weary foe, took their camp by +assault, and, having driven them from it, pursued them to Velitrae, +[32] into which city conquered and conquerors together rushed in one +body. By the promiscuous slaughter of all ranks, which there ensued, +more blood was shed than in the battle itself. Quarter was given to a +few, who threw down their arms and surrendered. + +While these operations were going on among the Volscians, the dictator +routed the Sabines, among whom by far the most important operations +of the war were carried on, put them to flight, and stripped them of +their camp. By a charge of cavalry he had thrown the centre of the +enemy's line into confusion, in the part where, owing to the wings +being extended too widely, they had not properly strengthened their +line with companies in the centre. The infantry fell upon them in +their confusion: by one and the same charge the camp was taken and the +war concluded. There was no other battle in those times more memorable +than this since the action at the Lake Regillus. The dictator rode +into the city in triumph. Besides the usual honours, a place in the +circus was assigned to him and his descendants, to see the public +games: a curule chair.[33] was fixed in that place. The territory of +Velitrae was taken from the conquered Volscians: colonists were sent +from Rome to Velitrae, and a colony led out thither. Some considerable +time afterward an engagement with the Aequans took place, but against +the wish of the consul, because they had to approach the enemy on +unfavourable ground: the soldiers, however, complaining that the +affair was being purposely protracted, in order that the dictator +might resign his office before they themselves returned to the city, +and so his promises might come to nothing, like those of the consul +before, forced him at all hazards to march his army up the hills. +This imprudent step, through the cowardice of the enemy, turned out +successful: for, before the Romans came within range, the Aequans, +amazed at their boldness, abandoned their camp, which they had pitched +in a very strong position, and ran down into the valleys that lay +behind them. There abundant plunder was found: the victory was a +bloodless one. While military operations had thus proved successful +in three quarters, neither senators nor people had dismissed their +anxiety in regard to the issue of domestic questions. With such +powerful influence and such skill had the usurers made arrangements, +so as to disappoint not only the people, but even the dictator +himself. For Valerius, after the return of the consul Vetusius, of all +the measures brought before the senate, made that on behalf of the +victorious people the first, and put the question, what it was their +pleasure should be done with respect to the debtors. And when his +report was disallowed, he said: "As a supporter of reconciliation, I +am not approved of. You will ere long wish, depend on it, that the +commons of Rome had supporters like myself. For my part, I will +neither further disappoint my Fellow-citizens, nor will I be dictator +to no purpose. Intestine dissensions and foreign wars have caused the +republic to stand in need of such a magistrate. Peace has been secured +abroad, it is impeded at home. I will be a witness to the disturbance +as a private citizen rather than as dictator." Accordingly, quitting +the senate-house, he resigned his dictatorship. The reason was clear +to the people: that he had resigned his office from indignation at +their treatment. Accordingly, as if his promise had been fully kept, +since it had not been his fault that his word had not been made +good, they escorted him on his return home with favouring shouts of +acclamation. + +Fear then seized the senators lest, if the army was disbanded, secret +meetings and conspiracies would be renewed; accordingly, although the +levy had been held by the dictator, yet, supposing that, as they had +sworn obedience to the consuls, the soldiers were bound by their oath, +they ordered the legions to be led out of the city, under the pretext +of hostilities having been renewed by the Aequans. By this course of +action the sedition was accelerated. And indeed it is said that it was +at first contemplated to put the consuls to death, that the legions +might be discharged from their oath: but that, being afterward +informed that no religious obligation could be rendered void by a +criminal act, they, by the advice of one Sicinius, retired, without +the orders of the consuls, to the Sacred Mount,[34] beyond the river +Anio, three miles from the city: this account is more commonly adopted +than that which Piso[35] has given, that the secession was made to the +Aventine. There, without any leader, their camp being fortified with +a rampart and trench, remaining quiet, taking nothing but what was +necessary for subsistence, they remained for several days, neither +molested nor molesting. Great was the panic in the city, and through +mutual fear all was in suspense. The people, left by their fellows in +the city, dreaded the violence of the senators: the senators dreaded +the people who remained in the city, not feeling sure whether they +preferred them to stay or depart. On the other hand, how long would +the multitude which had seceded, remain quiet? What would be the +consequences hereafter, if, in the meantime, any foreign war should +break out? They certainly considered there was no hope left, save in +the concord of the citizens: that this must be restored to the state +at any price. Under these circumstances it was resolved that Agrippa +Menenius, an eloquent man, and a favourite with the people, because +he was sprung from them, should be sent to negotiate with them. Being +admitted into the camp, he is said to have simply related to them the +following story in an old-fashioned and unpolished style: "At the time +when the parts of the human body did not, as now, all agree together, +but the several members had each their own counsel, and their own +language, the other parts were indignant that, while everything was +provided for the gratification of the belly by their labour and +service, the belly, resting calmly in their midst, did nothing but +enjoy the pleasures afforded it. They accordingly entered into a +conspiracy, that neither should the hands convey food to the mouth, +nor the mouth receive it when presented, nor the teeth have anything +to chew: while desiring, under the influence of this indignation, to +starve out the belly, the individual members themselves and the entire +body were reduced to the last degree of emaciation. Thence it became +apparent that the office of the belly as well was no idle one, that it +did not receive more nourishment than it supplied, sending, as it did, +to all parts of the body that blood from which we derive life and +vigour, distributed equally through the veins when perfected by the +digestion of the food." [36] By drawing a comparison from this, how +like was the internal sedition of the body to the resentment of the +people against the senators, he succeeded in persuading the minds of +the multitude. + +Then the question of reconciliation began to be discussed, and a +compromise was effected on certain conditions: that the commons should +have magistrates of their own, whose persons should be inviolable, who +should have the power of rendering assistance against the consuls, +and that no patrician should be permitted to hold that office. +Accordingly, two tribunes of the commons were created, Gaius Licinius +and Lucius Albinus. These created three colleagues for themselves. +It is clear that among these was Sicinius, the ring-leader of the +sedition; with respect to the other two, there is less agreement who +they were. There are some who say that only two tribunes were elected +on the Sacred Mount and that there the lex sacrata [37] was passed. + +During the secession of the commons, Spurius Cassius and Postumus +Cominius entered on the consulship. During their consulate, a treaty +was concluded with the Latin states. To ratify this, one of the +consuls remained at Rome: the other, who was sent to take command +in the Volscian war, routed and put to flight the Volscians of +Antium,[38] and pursuing them till they had been driven into the town +of Longula, took possession of the walls. Next he took Polusca, also +a city of the Volscians: he then attacked Corioli [39] with great +violence. There was at that time in the camp, among the young nobles, +Gnaeus Marcius, a youth distinguished both for intelligence and +courage, who was afterward surnamed Coriolanus. While the Roman army +was besieging Corioli, devoting all its attention to the townspeople, +who were kept, shut up within the walls, and there was no apprehension +of attack threatening from without, the Volscian legions, setting out +from Antium, suddenly attacked them, and the enemy sallied forth at +the same time from the town. Marcius at that time happened to be on +guard. He, with a chosen body of men, not only beat back the attack +of those who had sallied forth, but boldly rushed in through the +open gate, and, having cut down all who were in the part of the city +nearest to it, and hastily seized some blazing torches, threw them +into the houses adjoining the wall. Upon this, the shouts of the +townsmen, mingled with the wailings of the women and children +occasioned at first by fright, as is usually the case, both increased +the courage of the Romans, and naturally dispirited the Volscians +who had come to bring help, seeing that the city was taken. Thus the +Volscians of Antium were defeated, and the town of Corioli was taken. +And so much did Marcius by his valour eclipse the reputation of the +consul, that, had not the treaty concluded with the Latins by Spurius +Cassius alone, in consequence of the absence of his colleagues, and +which was engraved on a brazen column, served as a memorial of it, it +would have been forgotten that Postumus Cominius had conducted the war +with the Volscians. In the same year died Agrippa Menenius, a man all +his life equally a favourite with senators and commons, endeared still +more to the commons after the secession. This man, the mediator and +impartial promoter of harmony among his countrymen, the ambassador of +the senators to the commons, the man who brought back the commons to +the city, did not leave enough to bury him publicly. The people buried +him by the contribution of a sextans [40] per man. + +Titus Geganius and Publius Minucius were next elected consuls. In +this year, when abroad there was complete rest from war, and at home +dissensions were healed, another far more serious evil fell upon the +state: first, dearness of provisions, a consequence of the lands lying +untilled owing to the secession of the commons; then a famine, such as +attacks those who are besieged. And matters would certainly have ended +in the destruction of the slaves and commons, had not the consuls +adopted precautionary measures, by sending persons in every direction +to buy up corn, not only into Etruria on the coast to the right of +Ostia, and through the territory of the Volscians along the coast on +the left as far as Cumae, but into Sicily also, in quest of it. To +such an extent had the hatred of their neighbours obliged them to +stand in need of assistance from distant countries. When corn had +been bought up at Cumae, the ships were detained as security for the +property of the Tarquinians by the tyrant Aristodemus, who was their +heir. Among the Volscians and in the Pomptine territory it could not +even be purchased. The corn dealers themselves incurred danger from +the violence of the inhabitants. Corn was brought from Etruria by way +of the Tiber: by means of this the people were supported. In such +straitened resources they would have been harassed by a most +inopportune war, had not a dreadful pestilence attacked the Volscians +when on the point of beginning hostilities. The minds of the enemy +being so terrified by this calamity, that they felt a certain alarm, +even after it had abated the Romans both augmented the number of their +colonists at Velitrae, and despatched a new colony to the mountains Of +Norba [41] to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine district. Then +in the consulship of Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempronius a great +quantity of corn was imported from Sicily and it was debated in the +senate at what price it should be offered to the commons. Many were +of opinion that the time was come for crushing the commons, and +recovering those rights which had been wrested from the senators by +secession and violence. In particular, Marcius Coriolanus, an enemy to +tribunician power, said: "If they desire corn at its old price, let +them restore to the senators their former rights. Why do I, like a +captive sent under the yoke, as if I had been ransomed from robbers, +behold plebeian magistrates, and Sicinius invested with power? Am I to +submit to these indignities longer than is necessary? Am I, who have +refused to endure Tarquin as king, to tolerate Sicinius? Let him now +secede, let him call away the commons. The road lies open to the +Sacred Mount and to other hills. Let them carry off the corn from our +lands, as they did three years since. Let them have the benefit +of that scarcity which in their mad folly they have themselves +occasioned. I venture to say, that, overcome by these sufferings, they +will themselves become tillers of the lands, rather than, taking up +arms, and seceding, prevent them from being tilled." It is not so easy +to say whether it should have been done, but I think that it might +have been practicable for the senators, on the condition of lowering +the price of provisions, to have rid themselves of both the +tribunician power, and all the regulations imposed on them against +their will. + +This proposal both appeared to the senate too harsh and from +exasperation well-nigh drove the people to arms: they complained that +they were now being attacked with famine, as if they were enemies, +that they were being robbed of food and sustenance, that the corn +brought from foreign countries, the only support with which fortune +had unexpectedly furnished them, was being snatched from their mouth, +unless the tribunes were delivered in chains to Gnaeus Marcius, unless +satisfaction were exacted from the backs of the commons of Rome. That +in him a new executioner had arisen, one to bid them either die or +be slaves. He would have been attacked as he was leaving the +senate-house, had not the tribunes very opportunely appointed him a +day for trial: thereupon their rage was suppressed, every one saw +himself become the judge, the arbiter of the life and death of his +foe. At first Marcius listened to the threats of the tribunes with +contempt, saying that it was the right of affording aid, not of +inflicting punishment that had been conferred upon that office: that +they were tribunes of the commons and not of the senators. But the +commons had risen with such violent determination, that the senators +felt themselves obliged to sacrifice one man to arrive at a +settlement. They resisted, however, in spite of opposing odium, and +exerted, collectively, the powers of the whole order, as well as, +individually, each his own. At first, an attempt was made to see if, +by posting their clients [42] in several places, they could quash the +whole affair, by deterring individuals from attending meetings and +cabals. Then they all proceeded in a body--one would have said that +all the senators were on their trial--earnestly entreating the commons +that, if they would not acquit an innocent man, they would at least +for their sake pardon, assuming him guilty, one citizen, one senator. +As he did not attend in person on the day appointed, they persisted in +their resentment. He was condemned in his absence, and went into exile +among the Volscians, threatening his country, and even then cherishing +all the resentment of an enemy.[43] The Volscians received him kindly +on his arrival, and treated him still more kindly every day, in +proportion as his resentful feelings toward his countrymen became more +marked, and at one time frequent complaints, at another threats, were +heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of Attius Tullius, who was at that +time by far the chief man of the Volscian people, and had always been +a determined enemy of the Romans. Thus, while long-standing animosity +stimulated the one and recent resentment the other, they concerted +schemes for bringing about a war with Rome. They did not readily +believe that their own people could be persuaded to take up arms, so +often unsuccessfully tried, seeing that by many frequent wars, and +lastly, by the loss of their youth in the pestilence, their spirits +were now broken; they felt that in a case where animosity had now died +away from length of time they must proceed by scheming, that their +feelings might become exasperated under the influence of some fresh +cause for resentment. + +It happened that preparations were being made at Rome for a renewal of +the great games.[44] The cause of this renewal was as follows: On the +day of the games, in the morning when the show had not yet begun, a +certain head of a family had driven a slave of his through the middle +of the circus while he was being flogged, tied to the fork:[45] after +this the games had been begun, as if the matter had nothing to do with +any religious difficulty. Soon afterward Titus Latinius, a plebeian, +had a dream, in which Jupiter appeared to him and said that the person +who danced before the games had displeased him; unless those games +were renewed on a splendid scale, danger would threaten the city: +let him go and announce this to the consuls. Though his mind was not +altogether free from religious awe, his reverence for the dignity of +the magistrates, lest he might become a subject for ridicule in the +mouths of all, overcame his religious fear. This delay cost him dear, +for he lost his son within a few days; and, that there might be no +doubt about the cause of this sudden calamity, the same vision, +presenting itself to him in the midst of his sorrow of heart, seemed +to ask him, whether he had been sufficiently requited for his contempt +of the deity; that a still heavier penalty threatened him, unless he +went immediately and delivered the message to the consuls. The matter +was now still more urgent. While, however, he still delayed and kept +putting it off, he was attacked by a severe stroke of disease, a +sudden paralysis. Then indeed the anger of the gods frightened him. +Wearied out therefore by his past sufferings and by those that +threatened him, he convened a meeting of his friends and relatives, +and, after he had detailed to them all he had seen and heard, and the +fact of Jupiter having so often presented himself to him in his sleep, +and the threats and anger of Heaven speedily fulfilled in his own +calamities, he was, with the unhesitating assent of all who were +present, conveyed in a litter into the forum to the presence of the +consuls. From the forum, by order of the consuls, he was carried into +the senate-house, and, after he had recounted the same story to the +senators, to the great surprise of all, behold another miracle: he who +had been carried into the senate-house deprived of the use of all his +limbs, is reported to have returned home on his own feet, after he had +discharged his duty. + +The senate decreed that the games should be celebrated on as +magnificent a scale as possible. To those games a great number of +Volscians came at the suggestion of Attius Tullius. Before the games +had commenced, Tullius, as had been arranged privately with Marcius, +approached the consuls, and said that there were certain matters +concerning the common-wealth about which he wished to treat with them +in private. When all witnesses had been ordered to retire, he said: +"I am reluctant to say anything of my countrymen that may seem +disparaging. I do not, however, come to accuse them of any crime +actually committed by them, but to see to it that they do not commit +one. The minds of our people are far more fickle than I could wish. +We have learned that by many disasters; seeing that we are still +preserved, not through our own merits, but thanks to your forbearance. +There is now here a great multitude of Volscians; the games are going +on: the city will be intent on the exhibition. I remember what was +done in this city on a similar occasion by the youth of the Sabines. +My mind shudders at the thought that anything should be done +inconsiderately and rashly. I have deemed it right that these matters +should be mentioned beforehand to you, consuls, both for your sakes +and ours. With regard to myself, it is my determination to depart +hence home immediately, that I may not be tainted with the suspicion +of any word or deed if I remain." Having said this, he departed. When +the consuls had laid the matter before the senate, a matter that was +doubtful, though vouched for by a thoroughly reliable authority, the +authority, more than the matter itself, as usually happens, urged them +to adopt even needless precautions; and a decree of the senate having +been passed that the Volscians should quit the city, criers were sent +in different directions to order them all to depart before night. +They were at first smitten with great panic, as they ran in different +directions to their lodgings to carry away their effects. Afterward, +when setting out, indignation arose in their breasts, to think that +they, as if polluted with crime and contaminated, had been driven away +from the games on festival days, a meeting, so to speak, both of gods +and men. + +As they went along in an almost unbroken line, Tullius, who had +preceded them to the fountain of Ferentina, [46]received the chief +men, as each arrived, and, complaining and giving vent to expressions +of indignation, led both those, who eagerly listened to language that +favoured their resentment, and through them the rest of the multitude, +into a plain adjoining the road. There, having begun an address after +the manner of a public harangue, he said: "Though you were to forget +the former wrongs inflicted upon you by the Roman people, the +calamities of the nation of the Volscians, and all other such matters, +with what feelings, pray, do you regard this outrage offered you +to-day, whereby they have opened the games by insulting us? Did you +not feel that a triumph has been gained over you this day? That you, +when leaving, were the observed of all, citizens, foreigners, and so +many neighbouring states? That your wives, your children were led in +mockery before the eyes of men? What do you suppose were the feelings +of those who heard the voice of the crier? what of those who saw us +departing? What of those who met this ignominious cavalcade? What, +except that it is assuredly a matter of some offence against the gods: +and that, because, if we were present at the show, we should profane +the games, and be guilty of an act that would need expiation, for this +reason we are driven away from the dwellings of these pious people, +from their meeting and assembly? What then? Does it not occur to you +that we still live, because we have hastened our departure?--if indeed +this is a departure and not rather a flight. And do you not consider +this to be the city of enemies, in which, if you had delayed a single +day, you must all have died? War has been declared against you, to the +great injury of those who declared it, if you be men." Thus, being +both on their own account filled with resentment, and further incited +by this harangue, they severally departed to their homes, and by +stirring up each his own state, succeeded in bringing about the revolt +of the entire Volscian nation. + +The generals selected to take command in that war by theunanimous +choice of all the states were Attius Tullius and Gnaeus Marcius, an +exile from Rome, in the latter of whom far greater hopes were reposed. +These hopes he by no means disappointed, so that it was clearly seen +that the Roman commonwealth was powerful by reason of its generals +rather than its military force. Having marched to Circeii, he first +expelled from thence the Roman colonists, and handed over that city in +a state of freedom to the Volscians. From thence passing across the +country through by-roads into the Latin way, he deprived the Romans +of the following recently acquired towns, Satricum, Longula, Polusca, +Corioli. He next himself master of Lavinium, and then took in +succession Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Labici, and Pedum.[47] + +Lastly he marched from Pedum toward Rome, and having pitched his camp +at the Cluilian trenches five miles from the city, he openly ravaged +the Roman territory, guards being sent among the devastators to +preserve the lands of the patricians uninjured, whether it was that he +was chiefly incensed against the plebeians, or whether his object was +that dissension might arise between the senators and the people. And +it certainly would have arisen--so powerfully did the tribunes, by +inveighing against the leading men of the state, incite the plebeians, +already exasperated in themselves--had not apprehension of danger +from abroad, the strongest bond of union, united their minds, though +distrustful and mutually hostile. The only matter in which they were +not agreed was this: that, while the senate and consuls rested their +hopes on nothing else but arms, the plebeians preferred anything to +war. Spurius Nautius and Sextus Furius were now consuls. While they +were reviewing the legions, posting guards along the walls and other +places where they had determined that there should be outposts and +watches, a vast multitude of persons demanding peace terrified them +first by their seditious clamouring, and then compelled them to +convene the senate, to consider the question of sending ambassadors to +Gnaeus Marcius. The senate approved the proposal, when it was evident +that the spirits of the plebeians were giving way, ambassadors, sent +to Marcius to treat concerning peace, brought back the haughty answer: +If their lands were restored to the Volscians, the question of peace +might then be considered; if they were minded to enjoy the plunder of +war at their ease, he, remembering both the injurious treatment of his +countrymen, as well as the kindness of strangers, would do his utmost +to make it appear that his spirit was irritated by exile, not crushed. +The same envoys, being sent a second time, were not admitted into the +camp. It is recorded that the priests also, arrayed in the vestments +of their office, went as suppliants to the enemy's camp, but that they +did not influence his mind any more than the ambassadors. + +Then the matrons assembled in a body around Veturia, the mother of +Coriolanus, and his wife, Volumnia: whether that was the result of +public counsel, or of women's fear, I can not clearly ascertain. +Anyhow, they succeeded in inducing Veturia, a woman advanced in years, +and Volumnia with her two sons by Marcius, to go into the camp of the +enemy, and in prevailing upon women to defend the city by entreaties +and tears, since men were unable to defend it by arms. When they +reached the camp, and it was announced to Coriolanus that a great +crowd of women was approaching, he, as one who had been affected +neither by the public majesty of the state, as represented by its +ambassadors, nor by the sanctity of religion so strikingly spread +before his eyes and understanding in the person of its priests, was +at first much more obdurate against women's tears. Then one of his +acquaintances, who had recognised Veturia, distinguished beyond +all the rest by her sorrowful mien, standing in the midst with her +daughter-in-law and grandchildren, said, "Unless my eyes deceive +me, your mother, and wife and children, are at hand." Coriolanus, +bewildered, almost like one who had lost his reason, rushed from his +seat, and offered to embrace his mother as she met him; but she, +turning from entreaties to wrath, said: "Before I permit your embrace, +let me know whether I have come to an enemy or to a son, whether I am +in your camp a captive or a mother? Has length of life and a hapless +old age reserved me for this--to behold you first an exile, then an +enemy? Have you had the heart to lay waste this land, which gave +you birth and nurtured you? Though you had come in an incensed and +vengeful spirit, did not your resentment abate when you entered its +borders? When Rome came within view, did not the thought enter your +mind--within those walls are my house and household gods, my mother, +wife, and children? So then, had I not been a mother, Rome would not +now be besieged: had I not a son, I might have died free in a free +country. But I can now suffer nothing that will not bring more +disgrace on you than misery on me; nor, most wretched as I am, shall +I be so for long. Look to these, whom, if you persist, either an +untimely death or lengthened slavery awaits." Then his wife and +children embraced him: and the lamentation proceeding from the entire +crowd of women and their bemoaning their own lot and their country's, +at length overcame the man. Then, having embraced his family, he sent +them away; he himself withdrew his camp from the city. After he had +drawn off his troops from Roman territory, they say that he died +overwhelmed by the hatred excited against him on account of this act; +different writers give different accounts of his death: I find in +Fabius,[48] far the most ancient authority, that he lived to an +advanced age: at any rate, this writer states, that in his old age he +often made use of the expression, "that exile was far more miserable +to the aged." The men of Rome were not grudging in the award of their +due praise to the women, so truly did they live without disparaging +the merit of others: a temple was built, and dedicated to female +Fortune, to serve also as a record of the event. + +The Volscians afterward returned, having been joined by the Aequans, +into Roman territory: the latter, however, would no longer have Attius +Tullius as their leader; hence from a dispute, whether the Volscians +or the Aequans should give the general to the allied army, a quarrel, +and afterward a furious battle, broke out. Therein the good fortune of +the Roman people destroyed the two armies of the enemy, by a contest +no less ruinous than obstinate. Titus Sicinius and Gaius Aquilius were +made consuls. The Volscians fell to Sicinius as his province; the +Hernicans--for they, too, were in arms--to Aquilius. That year the +Hernicans were completely defeated; they met and parted with the +Volscians without any advantage being gained on either side. + +Spurius Cassius and Proculus Verginius were next made consuls; a +treaty was concluded with the Hernicans; two thirds of their land were +taken from them: of this the consul Cassius proposed to distribute +one half among the Latins, the other half among the commons. To this +donation he desired to add a considerable portion of land, which, +though public property, [49] he alleged was possessed by private +individuals. This proceeding alarmed several of the senators, the +actual possessors, at the danger that threatened their property; the +senators moreover felt anxiety on public grounds, fearing that the +consul by his donation was establishing an influence dangerous to +liberty. Then, for the first time, an agrarian law was proposed, which +from that time down to the memory of our own days has never been +discussed without the greatest civil disturbances. The other consul +opposed the donation, supported by the senators, nor, indeed, were all +the commons opposed to him: they had at first begun to feel disgust +that this gift had been extended from the citizens to the allies, and +thus rendered common: in the next place they frequently heard the +consul Verginius in the assemblies as it were prophesying, that the +gift of his colleague was pestilential: that those lands were sure to +bring slavery to those who received them: that the way was being paved +to a throne. Else why were it that the allies were thus included, and +the Latin nation? What was the object of a third of the land that had +been taken being restored to the Hernicans, so lately their enemies, +except that those nations might have Cassius for their leader instead +of Coriolanus? The dissuader and opposer of the agrarian law now began +to be popular. Both consuls then vied with each other in humouring the +commons. Verginius said that he would suffer the lands to be assigned, +provided they were assigned to no one but a Roman citizen. Cassius, +because in the agrarian donation he sought popularity among the +allies, and was therefore lowered in the estimation of his countrymen, +commanded, in order that by another gift he might win the affections +of the citizens, that the money received for the Sicilian corn should +be refunded to the people. That, however, the people spurned as +nothing else than a ready money bribe for regal authority: so +uncompromisingly were his gifts rejected, as if there was abundance of +everything, in consequence of their inveterate suspicion that he was +aiming at sovereign power. As soon as he went out of office, it is +certain that he was condemned and put to death. There are some +who represent that his father was the person who carried out the +punishment: that he, having tried the case at home, scourged him and +put him to death, and consecrated his son's private property to Ceres; +that out of this a statue was set up and inscribed, "Presented out of +the property of the Cassian family." In some authors I find it stated, +which is more probable, that a day was assigned him to stand his +trial for high treason, by the quaestors,[50] Caeso Fabius and Lucius +Valerius, and that he was condemned by the decision of the people; +that his house was demolished by a public decree: this is the spot +where there is now an open space before the Temple of Tellus.[51] +However, whether the trial was held in private or public, he was +condemned in the consulship of Servius Cornelius and Quintus Fabius. + +The resentment of the people against Cassius was not lasting. The +charm of the agrarian law, now that its proposer was removed, of +itself entered their minds: and their desire of it was further kindled +by the meanness of the senators, who, after the Volscians and Æquans +had been completely defeated in that year, defrauded the soldiers of +their share of the booty; whatever was taken from the enemy, was sold +by the consul Fabius, and the proceeds lodged in the public treasury. +All who bore the name of Fabius became odious to the commons on +account of the last consul: the patricians, however, succeeded in +getting Cæso Fabius elected consul with Lucius Æmilius. The commons, +still further aggravated at this, provoked war abroad by exciting +disturbance at home;[52] in consequence of the war civil dissensions +were then discontinued. Patricians and commons uniting, under the +command of Æmilius, overcame the Volscians and Æquans, who renewed +hostilities, in a successful engagement. The retreat, however, +destroyed more of the enemy than the battle; so perseveringly did the +cavalry pursue them when routed. During the same year, on the ides of +July,[53]the Temple of Castor was dedicated: it had been vowed during +the Latin war in the dictatorship of Postumius: his son, who was +elected duumvir for that special purpose, dedicated it. + +In that year, also, the minds of the people were excited by the +allurements of the agrarian law. The tribunes of the people +endeavoured to enhance their authority, in itself agreeable to the +people, by promoting a popular law. The patricians, considering that +there was enough and more than enough frenzy in the multitude without +any additional incitement, viewed with horror largesses and all +inducements to ill-considered action: the patricians found in the +consuls most energetic abettors in resistance. That portion of the +commonwealth therefore prevailed; and not for the moment only, but for +the coming year also they succeeded in securing the election of Marcus +Fabius, Cæso's brother, as consul, and one still more detested by the +commons for his persecution of Cassius--namely, Lucius Valerius. +In that year also was a contest with the tribunes. The law came to +nothing, and the supporters of the law proved to be mere boasters, by +their frequent promises of a gift that was never granted. The Fabian +name was thenceforward held in high repute, after three successive +consulates, and all as it were uniformly tested in contending with the +tribunes; accordingly, the honour remained for a considerable time +in that family, as being right well placed. A war with Veii was then +begun: the Volscians also renewed hostilities; but, while their +strength was almost more than sufficient for foreign wars, they +only abused it by contending among themselves. In addition to the +distracted state of the public mind prodigies from heaven increased +the general alarm, exhibiting almost daily threats in the city and in +the country, and the soothsayers, being consulted by the state and by +private individuals, declared, at one time by means of entrails, at +another by birds, that there was no other cause for the deity having +been roused to anger, save that the ceremonies of religion were not +duly performed. These terrors, however, terminated in this, that +Oppia, a vestal virgin, being found guilty of a breach of chastity, +suffered punishment. [54] Quintus Fabius and Gaius Julius were next +elected consuls. During this year the dissension at home was not +abated, while the war abroad was more desperate. The Æquans took up +arms: the Veientines also invaded and plundered the Roman territory: +as the anxiety about these wars increased, Cæso Fabius and Spurius +Furius were appointed consuls. The Æquans were laying siege to Ortona, +a Latin city. The Veientines, now sated with plunder, threatened to +besiege Rome itself. These terrors, which ought to have assuaged the +feelings of the commons, increased them still further: and the people +resumed the practice of declining military service, not of their own +accord, as before, but Spurius Licinius, a tribune of the people, +thinking that the time had come for forcing the agrarian law on +the patricians by extreme necessity, had undertaken the task of +obstructing the military preparations. However, all the odium against +the tribunician power was directed against the author of this +proceeding: and even his own colleagues rose up against him as +vigorously as the consuls; and by their assistance the consuls held +the levy. An army was raised for the two wars simultaneously; one was +intrusted to Fabius to be led against the Veientines, the other to +Furius to operate against the Æquans. In regard to the latter, indeed, +nothing took place worthy of mention. Fabius had considerably more +trouble with his countrymen than with the enemy: that one man alone, +as consul, sustained the commonwealth, which the army was doing its +best to betray, as far as in it lay, from hatred of the consul. For +when the consul, in addition to his other military talents, of which +he had exhibited abundant instances in his preparations for and in his +conduct of war, had so drawn up his line that he routed the enemy's +army solely by a charge of his cavalry, the infantry refused to pursue +them when routed; nor, although the exhortation of their general, whom +they hated, had no effect upon them, could even their own infamy, and +the immediate public disgrace and subsequent danger likely to arise, +if the enemy recovered their courage, induce them to quicken their +pace, or even, if nothing else, to stand in order of battle. Without +orders they faced about, and with a sorrowful air (one would have +thought them defeated) they returned to camp, execrating at one time +their general, at another the vigour displayed by the cavalry. Nor +did the general know where to look for any remedies for so harmful a +precedent: so true is it that the most distinguished talents will be +more likely found deficient in the art of managing a countryman, than +in that of conquering an enemy. The consul returned to Rome, not +having so much increased his military glory as irritated and +exasperated the hatred of his soldiers toward him. The patricians, +however, succeeded in keeping the consulship in the Fabian family. +They elected Marcus Fabius consul; Gnaeus Manlius was assigned as a +colleague to Fabius. + +This year also found a tribune to support an agrarian law. This was +Tiberius Pontificius, who, pursuing the same tactics, as if it had +succeeded in the case of Spurius Licinius, obstructed the levy for a +little time. The patricians being once more perplexed, Appius Claudius +declared that the tribunician power had been put down the year +before, for the moment by the fact, for the future by the precedent +established, since it was found that it could be rendered ineffective +by its own strength; for that there never would be wanting a tribune +who would both be willing to obtain a victory for himself over his +colleague, and the good-will of the better party to on advancement of +the public weal: that more tribunes than one, if there were need of +more than one, would be ready to assist the consuls: and that in fact +one would be sufficient even against all.[55] Only let the consuls and +leading members of the senate take care to win over, if not all, at +least some of the tribunes, to the side of the commonwealth and the +senate. The senators, instructed by the counsels of Appius, both +collectively addressed the tribunes with kindness and courtesy, and +the men of consular rank, according as each possessed private personal +influence over them individually, and, partly by conciliation, partly +by authority, prevailed so far as to make them consent that the powers +of the tribunician office should be beneficial to the state; and by +the aid of four tribunes against one obstructor of the public good, +the consuls carried out the levy. They then set out to the war against +Veii, to which auxiliaries had assembled from all parts of Etruria, +not so much influenced by feelings of regard for the Veientines, +as because they had formed a hope that the power of Rome could be +destroyed by internal discord. And in the general councils of all the +states of Etruria the leading men murmured that the power of Rome +would last forever, unless they were distracted by disturbances among +themselves: that this was the only poison, this the bane discovered +for powerful states, to render mighty empires mortal: that this evil, +a long time checked, partly by the wise measures of the patricians, +partly by the forbearance of the commons, had now proceeded to +extremities: that two states were now formed out of one: that each +party had its own magistrates, its own laws: that, although at first +they were accustomed to be turbulent during the levies, still these +same individuals had notwithstanding ever been obedient to their +commanders during war: that as long as military discipline was +retained, no matter what might be the state of the city, the evil +might have been withstood: but that now the custom of not obeying +their officers followed the Roman soldier even to the camp: that in +the last war, even in a regular engagement and in the very heat of +battle, by consent of the army the victory had been voluntarily +surrendered to the vanquished Aequans: that the standards had been +deserted, the general abandoned on the field, and that the army had +returned to camp without orders: without doubt, if they persevered, +Rome might be conquered by means of her own soldiery: nothing else was +necessary save a declaration and show of war: the fates and the +gods would of themselves manage the rest. These hopes had armed the +Etruscans, who by many changes of fortune had been vanquished and +victors in turn. + +The Roman consuls also dreaded nothing else but their own strength and +their own arms. The recollection of the most mischievous precedent set +in the last war was a terrible warning to them not to let matters +go so far that they would have two armies to fear at the same time. +Accordingly, they kept within their camp, avoiding battle, owing to +the two-fold danger that threatened them, thinking that length of time +and circumstances themselves would perchance soften down resentment, +and bring them to a healthy frame of mind. The Veientine enemy and the +Etruscans proceeded with proportionately greater precipitation; +they provoked them to battle, at first by riding up to the camp and +challenging them; at length when they produced no effect, by reviling +the consuls and the army alike, they declared that the pretence of +internal dissension was assumed as a cloak for cowardice: and that the +consuls rather distrusted the courage than disbelieved the sincerity +of their soldiers: that inaction and idleness among men in arms were a +novel form of sedition. Besides this they uttered insinuations, partly +true and partly false, as to the upstart nature of their race and +origin. While they loudly proclaimed this close to the very rampart +and gates, the consuls bore it without impatience: but at one time +indignation, at another shame, agitated the breasts of the ignorant +multitude, and diverted their attention from intestine evils; they +were unwilling that the enemy should remain unpunished; they did not +wish success either to the patricians or the consuls; foreign and +domestic hatred struggled for the mastery in their minds: at length +the former prevailed, so haughty and insolent were the jeers of the +enemy; they crowded in a body to the general's tent; they desired +battle, they demanded that the signal should be given. The consuls +conferred together as if to deliberate; they continued the conference +for a long time: they were desirous of fighting, but that desire they +considered should be checked and concealed, that by opposition and +delay they might increase the ardour of the soldiery now that it was +once roused. The answer was returned that the matter in question was +premature, that it was not yet time for fighting: let them keep within +their camp. They then issued a proclamation that they should abstain +from fighting: if any one fought without orders, they would punish +him as an enemy. When they were thus dismissed, their eagerness for +fighting increased in proportion as they believed the consuls were +less disposed for it; the enemy, moreover, who now showed themselves +with greater boldness, as soon as it was known that the consuls had +determined not to fight, further kindled their ardour. For they +supposed that they could insult them with impunity; that the soldiers +were not trusted with arms; that the affair would explode in a violent +mutiny; that an end had come to the Roman Empire. Relying on these +hopes, they ran up to the gates, heaped abuse on the Romans, and with +difficulty refrained from assaulting the camp. Then indeed the Romans +could no longer endure their insults: they ran from every quarter of +the camp to the consuls: they no longer, as formerly, put forth their +demands with reserve, through the mediation of the centurions of the +first rank, but all proceeded indiscriminately with loud clamours. The +affair was now ripe; yet still they hesitated. Then Fabius, as his +colleague was now inclined to give way in consequence of his dread of +mutiny in face of the increasing uproar, having commanded silence +by sound of trumpet, said: "I know that those soldiers are able to +conquer, Gneius Manlius: by their own conduct they themselves have +prevented me from knowing that they are willing. Accordingly, I have +resolved and determined not to give the signal, unless they swear that +they will return from this battle victorious. The soldier has once +deceived the Roman consul in the field, the gods he will never +deceive." There was a centurion, Marcus Flavoleius, one of the +foremost in demanding battle: said he, "Marcus Fabius, I will return +victorious from the field." He invoked upon himself, should he deceive +them, the wrath of Father Jove, Mars Gradivus, and the other gods. +After him in succession the whole army severally took the same oath. +After they had been sworn, the signal was given: they took up arms and +marched into battle, full of rage and of hope. They bade the Etruscans +now utter their reproaches: now severally demanded that the enemy, so +ready of tongue, should face them, now that they were armed. On that +day, both commons and patricians alike showed distinguished bravery: +the Fabian family shone forth most conspicuous: they were determined +to recover in that battle the affections of the commons, estranged by +many civil contests. + +The army was drawn up in order of battle; nor did the Veientine foe +and the Etruscan legions decline the contest. They entertained an +almost certain hope that the Romans would no more fight with them than +they had with the Aequans; that even some more serious attempt was not +to be despaired of, considering the sorely irritated state of their +feelings, and the critical condition of affairs. The result turned out +altogether different: for never before in any other war did the Roman +soldiers enter the field with greater fury, so exasperated were they +by the taunts of the enemy on the one hand, and the dilatoriness of +the consuls on the other. Before the Etruscans had time to form their +ranks, their javelins having been rather thrown away at random, in +the first confusion, than aimed at the enemy, the battle had become +a hand-to-hand encounter, even with swords, in which the fury of +war rages most fiercely. Among the foremost the Fabian family was +distinguished for the sight it afforded and the example it presented +to its fellow-citizens; one of these, Quintus Fabius, who had been +consul two years before, as he advanced at the head of his men against +a dense body of Veientines, and incautiously engaged amid numerous +parties of the enemy, received a sword-thrust through the breast at +the hands of a Tuscan emboldened by his bodily strength and skill in +arms: on the weapon being extracted, Fabius fell forward on the +wound. Both armies felt the fall of this one man, and the Romans in +consequence were beginning to give way, when the consul Marcus Fabius +leaped over the body of his prostrate kinsman, and, holding his +buckler in front, cried out: "Is this what you swore, soldiers, that +you would return to the camp in flight? Are you so afraid of your +most cowardly foes, rather than of Jupiter and Mars, by whom you have +sworn? Well, then, I, who have taken no oath, will either return +victorious, or will fall fighting here beside thee, Quintus Fabius." +Then Caeso Fabius, the consul of the preceding year, addressed the +consul: "Brother, is it by these words you think you will prevail on +them to fight? The gods, by whom they have sworn, will bring it about. +Let us also, as becomes men of noble birth, as is worthy of the Fabian +name, kindle the courage of the soldiers by fighting rather than by +exhortation." Thus the two Fabii rushed forward to the front with +spears presented, and carried the whole line with them. + +The battle being thus restored in one quarter, Gnaeus Manlius, the +consul, with no less ardour, encouraged the fight on the other wing, +where the course of the fortune of war was almost identical. For, as +the soldiers eagerly followed Quintus Fabius on the one wing, so did +they follow the consul Manlius on this, as he was driving the enemy +before him now nearly routed. When, having received a severe wound, he +retired from the battle, they fell back, supposing that he was slain, +and would have abandoned the position had not the other consul, +galloping at full speed to that quarter with some troops of horse, +supported their drooping fortune, crying out that his colleague was +still alive, that he himself was now at hand victorious, having routed +the other wing. Manlius also showed himself in sight of all to restore +the battle. The well-known faces of the two consuls kindled the +courage of the soldiers: at the same time, too, the enemy's line was +now thinner, since, relying on their superior numbers, they had drawn +off their reserves and despatched them to storm the camp This was +assaulted without much resistance: and, while they wasted time, +bethinking themselves of plunder rather than fighting, the Roman +triarii,[56] who had not been able to sustain the first shock, having +sent a report to the consuls of the position of affairs, returned in a +compact body to the prætorium,[57] and of their own accord renewed +the battle. The consul Manlius also having returned to the camp, and +posted soldiers at all the gates, had blocked up every passage against +the enemy. This desperate situation aroused the fury rather than the +bravery of the Etruscans; for when, rushing on wherever hope held +out the prospect of escape, they had advanced with several fruitless +efforts, a body of young men attacked the consul himself, who was +conspicuous by his arms. The first missiles were intercepted by those +who stood around him; afterward their violence could not be withstood. +The consul fell, smitten with a mortal wound, and all around him were +put to flight. The courage of the Etruscans increased. Terror drove +the Romans in dismay through the entire camp; and matters would have +come to extremities had not the lieutenants,[58] hastily seizing the +body of the consul opened a passage for the enemy at one gate.[59] +Through this they rushed out; and going away in the utmost disorder, +they fell in with the other consul, who had been victorious; there +a second time they were cut down and routed in every direction. A +glorious victory was won, saddened, however, by two such illustrious +deaths. The consul, therefore, on the senate voting him a triumph, +replied, that if the army could triumph without its general, he would +readily accede to it in consideration of its distinguished service in +that war: that for his own part, as his family was plunged in grief +in consequence of the death of his brother Quintus Fabius, and the +commonwealth in some degree bereaved by the loss of one of her +consuls, he would not accept the laurel disfigured by public and +private grief. The triumph thus declined was more illustrious than +any triumph actually enjoyed; so true it is, that glory refused at +a fitting moment sometimes returns with accumulated lustre. He next +celebrated the two funerals of his colleague and brother, one after +the other, himself delivering the funeral oration over both, wherein, +by yielding up to them the praise that was his own due, he himself +obtained the greatest share of it; and, not unmindful of that which +he had determined upon at the beginning of his consulate, namely, the +regaining the affection of the people, he distributed the wounded +soldiers among the patricians to be attended to. Most of them were +given to the Fabii: nor were they treated with greater attention +anywhere else. From this time the Fabii began to be popular, and that +not by aught save such conduct as was beneficial to the state. + +Accordingly, Caeso Fabius, having been elected consul with Titus +Verginius not more with the good-will of the senators than of the +commons, gave no attention either to wars, or levies, or anything else +in preference, until, the hope of concord being now in some measure +assured, the feelings of the commons should be united with those +of the senators at the earliest opportunity. Accordingly, at the +beginning of the year he proposed that before any tribune should stand +forth as a supporter of the agrarian law, the patricians themselves +should be beforehand in bestowing the gift unasked and making it their +own: that they should distribute among the commons the land taken from +the enemy in as equal a proportion as possible; that it was but just +that those should enjoy it by whose blood and labour it had been won. +The patricians rejected the proposal with scorn: some even complained +that the once vigorous spirit of Caeso was running riot, and decaying +through a surfeit of glory. There were afterward no party struggles in +the city. The Latins, however, were harassed by the incursions of +the Aequans. Caeso being sent thither with an army, crossed into the +territory of the Aequans themselves to lay it waste. The Aequans +retired into the towns, and kept themselves within the walls: on that +account no battle worth mentioning was fought. + +However, a reverse was sustained at the hands of the Veientine foe +owing to the rashness of the other consul; and the army would have +been all cut off, had not Caeso Fabius come to their assistance +in time. From that time there was neither peace nor war with the +Veientines: their mode of operation had now come very near to the form +of brigandage. They retired before the Roman troops into the city; +when they perceived that the troops were drawn off, they made +incursions into the country, alternately mocking war with peace and +peace with war. Thus the matter could neither be dropped altogether, +nor brought to a conclusion. Besides, other wars were threatening +either at the moment, as from the Aequans and Volscians, who remained +inactive no longer than was necessary, to allow the recent smart of +their late disaster to pass away, or at no distant date, as it was +evident that the Sabines, ever hostile, and all Etruria would soon +begin to stir up war: but the Veientines, a constant rather than a +formidable enemy, kept their minds in a state of perpetual uneasiness +by petty annoyances more frequently than by any real danger to be +apprehended from them, because they could at no time be neglected, and +did not suffer the Romans to turn their attention elsewhere. Then the +Fabian family approached the senate: the consul spoke in the name of +the family: "Conscript fathers, the Veientine war requires, as you +know, an unremitting rather than a strong defence. Do you attend to +other wars: assign the Fabii as enemies to the Veientines. We pledge +ourselves that the majesty of the Roman name shall be safe in +that quarter. That war, as if it were a family matter, it is our +determination to conduct at our own private expense. In regard to it +let the republic be spared the expense of soldiers and money." +The warmest thanks were returned to them. The consul, leaving the +senate-house, accompanied by the Fabii in a body, who had been +standing in the porch of the senate-house, awaiting the decree of the +senate, returned home. They were ordered to attend on the following +day in arms at the consul's gate: they then retired to their homes. + +The report spread through the entire city; they extolled the Fabii +to the skies: that a single family had undertaken the burden of the +state; that the Veientine war had now become a private concern, a +private quarrel. If there were two families of the same strength in +the city, let them demand, the one the Volscians for itself, the other +the Aequans; that all the neighbouring states could be subdued, +while the Roman people all the time enjoyed profound peace. The day +following, the Fabii took up arms; they assembled where they had been +ordered. The consul, coming forth in his military robe, beheld the +whole family in the porch drawn up in order of march; being received +into the centre, he ordered the standards to be advanced. Never did +an army march through the city, either smaller in number, or more +distinguished in renown and more admired by all. Three hundred and six +soldiers, all patricians, all of one family, not one of whom an honest +senate would reject as a leader under any circumstances whatever, +proceeded on their march, threatening the Veientine state with +destruction by the might of a single family. A crowd followed, +one part belonging to themselves, consisting of their kinsmen and +comrades, who contemplated no half measures, either as to their hope +or anxiety, but everything on a grand scale:[60] the other aroused by +solicitude for the public weal, unable to express their esteem and +admiration. They bade them proceed in their brave resolve, proceed +with happy omens, and render the issue proportionate to the +undertaking: thence to expect consulships and triumphs, all rewards, +all honours from them. As they passed the Capitol and the citadel, and +the other sacred edifices, they offered up prayers to all the gods +that presented themselves to their sight, or to their mind, that they +would send forward that band with prosperity and success, and soon +send them back safe into their country to their parents. In vain were +these prayers uttered. Having set out on their luckless road by the +right-hand arch of the Carmental gate,[61] they arrived at the river +Cremera:[62] this appeared a favourable situation for fortifying an +outpost. + +Lucius Aemilius and Gaius Servilius were then created consuls. And as +long as there was nothing else to occupy them but mutual devastations, +the Fabii were not only able to protect their garrison, but through +the entire tract, where the Tuscan territory adjoins the Roman, they +protected all their own districts and ravaged those of the enemy, +spreading their forces along both frontiers. There was afterward a +cessation, though not for long, of these depredations: while both the +Veientines, having sent for an army from Etruria,[63] assaulted the +outpost at the Cremera, and the Roman troops, brought up by the consul +Lucius Aemilius, came to a close engagement in the field with the +Etruscans; the Veientines, however, had scarcely time to draw up their +line: for, during the first alarm, while they were entering the lines +behind their colours, and they were stationing their reserves, a +brigade of Roman cavalry, charging them suddenly in flank, deprived +them of all opportunity not only of opening the fight, but even of +standing their ground. Thus being driven back to the Red Rocks [64]. +(where they had pitched their camp), as suppliants they sued for +peace; and, after it was granted, owing to the natural inconsistency +of their minds, they regretted it even before the Roman garrison was +withdrawn from the Cremera. + +Again the Veientine state had to contend with the Fabii without any +additional military armament: and not merely did they make raids into +each other's territories, or sudden attacks upon those carrying on +the raids, but they fought repeatedly on level ground, and in pitched +battles: and one family of the Roman people oftentimes gained the +victory over an entire Etruscan state, and a most powerful one for +those times. This at first appeared mortifying and humiliating to the +Veientines: then they conceived the design, suggested by the state of +affairs, of surprising their daring enemy by an ambuscade; they were +even glad that the confidence of the Fabii was increasing owing to +their great success. Wherefore cattle were frequently driven in the +path of the plundering parties, as if they had fallen in their way +by accident, and tracts of land left abandoned by the flight of +the peasants: and reserve bodies of armed men, sent to prevent the +devastations, retreated more frequently in pretended than in real +alarm. By this time the Fabii had conceived such contempt for the +enemy that they believed that their arms, as yet invincible, could not +be resisted either in any place or on any occasion: this presumption +carried them so far that at the sight of some cattle at a distance +from Cremera, with an extensive plain lying between, they ran down to +them, in spite of the fact that some scattered bodies of the enemy +were visible: and when, anticipating nothing, and in disorderly haste, +they had passed the ambuscade placed on either side of the road +itself, and, dispersed in different directions, had begun to carry off +the cattle that were straying about, as is usual when frightened, the +enemy started suddenly in a body from their ambuscade, and surrounded +them both in front and on every side. At first the noise of their +shouts, spreading, terrified them; then weapons assailed them from +every side: and, as the Etruscans closed in, they also were compelled, +hemmed in as they were by an unbroken body of armed men, to form +themselves into a square of narrower compass the more the enemy +pressed on: this circumstance rendered both their own scarcity of +numbers noticeable and the superior numbers of the Etruscans, whose +ranks were crowded in a narrow space. Then, having abandoned the +plan of fighting, which they had directed with equal effort in every +quarter, they all turned their forces toward one point; straining +every effort in that direction, both with their arms and bodies, and +forming themselves into a wedge, they forced a passage. The way led to +a gradually ascending hill: here they first halted: presently, as soon +as the higher ground afforded them time to gain breath, and to recover +from so great a panic, they repulsed the foe as they ascended: and the +small band, assisted by the advantages of the ground, was gaining the +victory, had not a party of the Veientines, sent round the ridge of +the hill, made their way to the summit: thus the enemy again got +possession of the higher ground; all the Fabii were cut down to a man, +and the fort was taken by assault: it is generally agreed that three +hundred and six were slain; that one only, who had nearly attained +the age of puberty, survived, who was to be the stock for the Fabian +family, and was destined to prove the greatest support of the Roman +people in dangerous emergencies on many occasions both at home and in +war.[65] + +At the time when this disaster was sustained, Gaius Horatius and Titus +Menenius were consuls. Menenius was immediately sent against +the Tuscans, now elated with victory. On that occasion also an +unsuccessful battle was fought, and the enemy took possession of the +Janiculum: and the city would have been besieged, since scarcity of +provisions distressed them in addition to the war--for the Etruscans +had passed the Tiber--had not the consul Horatius been recalled from +the Volscians; and so closely did that war approach the very walls, +that the first battle was fought near the Temple of Hope[66] with +doubtful success, and a second at the Colline gate. There, although +the Romans gained the upper hand by only a trifling advantage, yet +that contest rendered the soldiers more serviceable for future battles +by the restoration of their former courage. + +Aulus Verginius and Spurius Servilius were next chosen consuls. After +the defeat sustained in the last battle, the Veientines declined an +engagement.[67] Ravages were committed, and they made repeated attacks +in every direction upon the Roman territory from the Janiculum, as if +from a fortress: nowhere were cattle or husbandmen safe. They were +afterward entrapped by the same stratagem as that by which they +had entrapped the Fabii: having pursued cattle which had been +intentionally driven on in all directions to decoy them, they fell +into an ambuscade; in proportion as they were more numerous,[68] the +slaughter was greater. The violent resentment resulting from this +disaster was the cause and beginning of one still greater: for having +crossed the Tiber by night, they attempted to assault the camp of the +consul Servilius; being repulsed from thence with great slaughter, +they with difficulty made good their retreat to the Janiculum. The +consul himself also immediately crossed the Tiber, and fortified +his camp at the foot of the Janiculum: at daybreak on the following +morning, being both somewhat elated by the success of the battle of +the day before, more, however, because the scarcity of corn forced him +to adopt measures, however dangerous, provided only they were more +expeditious, he rashly marched his army up the steep of the Janiculum +to the camp of the enemy, and, being repulsed from thence with more +disgrace than when he had repulsed them on the preceding day, he +was saved, both himself and his army, by the intervention of his +colleague. The Etruscans, hemmed in between the two armies, and +presenting their rear to the one and the other by turns, were +completely destroyed. Thus the Veientine war was crushed by a +successful piece of audacity. [69] + +Together with peace, provisions came in to the city in greater +abundance, both by reason of corn having been brought in from +Campania, and, as soon as the fear of want, which every one felt was +likely to befall himself, left them, by the corn being brought out, +which had been stored. Then their minds once more became wanton from +plenty and ease, and they sought at home their former subjects of +complaint, now that there was none abroad; the tribunes began to +excite the commons by their poisonous charm, the agrarian law: they +roused them against the senators who opposed it, and not only against +them as a body, but against particular individuals. Quintus Considius +and Titus Genucius, the proposers of the agrarian law, appointed a day +of trial for Titus Menenius: the loss of the fort of Cremera, while +the consul had his standing camp at no great distance from thence, +was the cause of his unpopularity. This crushed him, though both the +senators had exerted themselves in his behalf with no less earnestness +than in behalf of Coriolanus, and the popularity of his father Agrippa +was not yet forgotten. The tribunes, however, acted leniently in +the matter of the fine: though they had arraigned him for a capital +offence, they imposed on him, when found guilty, a fine of only two +thousand asses. This proved fatal to him. They say that he could not +brook disgrace and anguish of mind: and that, in consequence, he was +carried off by disease. Another senator, Spurius Servilius was soon +after arraigned, as soon as he went out of office a day of trial +having been appointed for him by the tribunes, Lucius Caedicius and +Titus Statius, immediately at the beginning of the year, in the +consulship of Gaius Nautius and Publius Valerius: he did not, however, +like Menenius, meet the attacks of the tribunes with supplications on +the part of himself and the patricians, but with firm reliance on his +own integrity and his personal popularity. The battle with the Tuscans +at the Janiculum was also the charge brought against him: but being +a man of impetuous spirit, as he had formerly done in time of public +peril, so now in the danger which threatened himself, he dispelled +it by boldly meeting it, by confuting not only the tribunes but the +commons also, in a haughty speech, and upbraiding them with the +condemnation and death of Titus Menenius, by the good offices of whose +father the commons had formerly been re-established, and now had those +magistrates and enjoyed those laws, by virtue of which they then acted +so insolently: his colleague Verginius also, who was brought forward +as a witness, aided him by assigning to him a share of his own glory: +however--so had they changed their mind--the condemnation of Menenius +was of greater service to him. + +The contests at home were now concluded. A war against the Veientines, +with whom the Sabines had united their forces, broke out afresh. The +consul Publius Valerius, after auxiliaries had been sent for from +the Latins and Hernicans, being despatched to Veii with an army, +immediately attacked the Sabine camp, which had been pitched before +the walls of their allies, and occasioned such great consternation +that, while scattered in different directions, they sallied forth in +small parties to repel the assault of the enemy, the gate which he +first atacked was taken: then within the rampart a massacre rather +than a battle took place. From within the camp the alarm spread also +into the city; the Veientines ran to arms in as great a panic as if +Veii had been taken: some came up to the support of the Sabines, +others fell upon the Romans, who had directed all their force against +the camp. For a little while they were disconcerted and thrown into +confusion; then they in like manner formed two fronts and made a +stand: and the cavalry, being commanded by the consul to charge, +routed the Tuscans and put them to flight; and in the self-same +hour two armies and two of the most influential and powerful of the +neighbouring states were vanquished. While these events were taking +place at Veii, the Volscians and Æquans had pitched their camp in +Latin territory, and laid waste their frontiers. The Latins, being +joined by the Hernicans, without either a Roman general or Roman +auxiliaries, by their own efforts, stripped them of their camp. +Besides recovering their own effects, they obtained immense booty. The +consul Gaius Nautius, however, was sent against the Volscians from +Rome. The custom, I suppose, was not approved of, that the allies +should carry on wars with their own forces and according to their own +plans without a Roman general and troops. There was no kind of injury +and petty annoyance that was not practised against the Volscians; they +could not, however, be prevailed on to come to an engagement in the +field. + +Lucius Furius and Gaius Manlius were the next consuls. The Veientines +fell to Manlius as his province. No war, however, followed: a truce +for forty years was granted them at their request, but they were +ordered to provide corn and pay for the soldiers. Disturbance at home +immediately followed in close succession on peace abroad: the commons +were goaded by the spur employed by the tribunes in the shape of the +agrarian law. The consuls, no whit intimidated by the condemnation of +Menenius, nor by the danger of Servilius, resisted with their utmost +might; Gnæus Genucius, a tribune of the people, dragged the consuls +before the court on their going out of office. Lucius Æmilius and +Opiter Verginius entered upon the consulate. Instead of Verginius I +find Vopiscus Julius given as consul in some annals. In this year +(whoever were the consuls) Furius and Manlius, being summoned to trial +before the people, in sordid garb solicited the aid of the younger +patricians as much as that of the commons: they advised, they +cautioned them to keep themselves from public offices and the +administration of public affairs, and indeed to consider the consular +fasces, the toga prætexta and curule chair, as nothing else but a +funeral parade: that when decked with these splendid insignia, as with +fillets, [70] they were doomed to death. But if the charms of the +consulate were so great they should even now rest satisfied that the +consulate was held in captivity and crushed by the tribunician power; +that everything had to be done by the consul, at the beck and command +of the tribune, as if he were a tribune's beadle. If he stirred, if he +regarded the patricians at all, if he thought that there existed any +other party in the state but the commons, let him set before his +eyes the banishment of Gnæeus Marcius, the condemnation and death of +Menenius. Fired by these words, the patricians from that time held +their consultations not in public, but in private houses, and remote +from the knowledge of the majority, at which, when this one point only +was agreed on, that the accused must be rescued either by fair means +or foul, the most desperate proposals were most approved; nor did any +deed, however daring, lack a supporter.[71] Accordingly, on the day of +trial, when the people stood in the forum on tiptoe of expectation, +they at first began to feel surprised that the tribune did not come +down; then, the delay now becoming more suspicious, they believed that +he was hindered by the nobles, and complained that the public cause +was abandoned and betrayed. At length those who had been waiting +before the entrance of the tribune's residence announced that he +had been found dead in his house. As soon as rumour spread the news +through the whole assembly, just as an army disperses on the fall +of its general, so did they scatter in different directions. Panic +chiefly seized the tribunes, now taught by their colleague's death how +utterly ineffectual was the aid the devoting laws afforded them.[72] +Nor did the patricians display their exultation with due moderation; +and so far was any of them from feeling compunction at the guilty act, +that even those who were innocent wished to be considered to have +perpetrated it, and it was openly declared that the tribunician power +ought to be subdued by chastisement. + +Immediately after this victory, that involved a most ruinous +precedent, a levy was proclaimed; and, the tribunes being now +overawed, the consuls accomplished their object without any +opposition. Then indeed the commons became enraged more at the +inactivity of the tribunes than at the authority of the consuls: they +declared there was an end of their liberty: that things had returned +to their old condition: that the tribunician power had died along with +Genucius and was buried with him; that other means must be devised and +adopted, by which the patricians might be resisted: and that the only +means to that end was for the people to defend themselves, since they +had no other help: that four-and-twenty lictors waited on the consuls, +and they men of the common people: that nothing could be more +despicable, or weaker, if only there were persons to despise them; +that each person magnified those things and made them objects of +terror to himself. When they had excited one another by these words, +a lictor was despatched by the consuls to Volero Publilius, a man +belonging to the commons, because he declared that, having been a +centurion, he ought not to be made a common soldier. Volero appealed +to the tribunes. When no one came to his assistance, the consuls +ordered the man to be stripped and the rods to be got ready. "I appeal +to the people," said Volero, "since the tribunes prefer to see a Roman +citizen scourged before their eyes, than themselves to be butchered +by you each in his bed." The more vehemently he cried out, the more +violently did the lictor tear off his clothes and strip him. Then +Volero, being both himself a man of great bodily strength, and aided +by his partisans, having thrust back the lictor, retired into the +thickest part of the crowd, where the outcry of those who expressed +their indignation was loudest, crying out: "I appeal, and implore the +protection of the commons; assist me, fellow-citizens: assist me, +fellow-soldiers: it is no use to wait for the tribunes, who themselves +stand in need of your aid." The men, excited, made ready as if for +battle: and it was clear that a general crisis was at hand, that no +one would have respect for anything, either public or private right. +When the consuls had faced this violent storm, they soon found out +that authority unsupported by strength had but little security; the +lictors being maltreated, and the fasces broken, they were driven from +the forum into the senate-house, uncertain how far Volero would follow +up his victory. After that, the disturbance subsiding, having ordered +the members to be summoned to the senate, they complained of the +insults offered to themselves, of the violence of the people, of +the daring conduct of Volero. After many violent measures had been +proposed, the older members prevailed, who did not approve of the +rash behaviour of the commons being met by the resentment of the +patricians. + +The commons having warmly espoused the cause of Volero, at the next +meeting, secured his election as tribune of the people for that +year, in which Lucius Pinarius and Publics Furius were consuls: and, +contrary to the opinion of all, who thought that he would make free +use of his tribuneship to harass the consuls of the preceding year, +postponing private resentment to the public interest, without the +consuls being attacked even by a single word, he brought a bill before +the people that plebeian magistrates should be elected at the comitia +tributa.[73] A measure of no small importance was now proposed, under +an aspect at first sight by no means alarming; but one of such a +nature that it really deprived the patricians of all power of electing +whatever tribunes they pleased by the suffrage of their clients. The +patricians resisted to the utmost this proposal, which met with the +greatest approval of the commons: and though none of the college[74] +could be induced by the influence either of the consuls or of the +chief members of the senate to enter a protest against it, which was +the only means of effectual resistance, yet the matter, a weighty one +from its own importance, was spun out by party struggles for a +whole year. The commons re-elected Volero as tribune. The senators, +considering that the matter would end in a desperate struggle, elected +as Consul Appius Claudius, the son of Appius, who was both hated by +and had hated the commons, ever since the contests between them and +his father. Titus Quinctius was assigned to him as his colleague. +Immediately, at the beginning of the year,[75]no other question took +precedence of that regarding the law. But like Volero, the originator +of it, so his colleague, Lætorius, was both a more recent, as well as +a more energetic, supporter of it. His great renown in war made him +overbearing, because, in the age in which he lived, no one was more +prompt in action. He, while Volero confined himself to the discussion +of the law, avoiding all abuse of the consuls, broke out into +accusations against Appius and his family, as having ever been most +overbearing and cruel toward the Roman commons, contending that he had +been elected by the senators, not as consul, but as executioner, to +harass and torture the people: his tongue, unskilled in speech, as was +natural in a soldier, was unable to give adequate expression to the +freedom of his sentiments. When, therefore, language failed him, he +said: "Romans, since I do not speak with as much readiness as I make +good what I have spoken, attend here to-morrow. I will either die +before your eyes, or will carry the law." On the following day the +tribunes took possession of the platform: the consuls and the nobles +took their places together in the assembly to obstruct the law. +Lætorius ordered all persons to be removed, except those going to +vote. The young nobles kept their places, paying no regard to the +officer; then Lætorius ordered some of them to be seized. The consul +Appius insisted that the tribune had no jurisdiction over any one +except a plebeian; for that he was not a magistrate of the people in +general, but only of the commons; and that even he himself could not, +according to the usage of their ancestors, by virtue of his authority +remove any person, because the words were as follows: "If ye think +proper, depart, Quirites." He was easily able to disconcert Lætorius +by discussing his right thus contemptuously. The tribune, therefore, +burning with rage, sent his officer to the consul; the consul sent his +lictor to the tribune, exclaiming that he was a private individual, +without military office and without civil authority: and the tribune +would have been roughly handled, had not both the entire assembly +risen up with great warmth in behalf of the tribune against the +consul, and a crowd of people belonging to the excited multitude, +rushed from all parts of the city into the forum. Appius, however, +withstood this great storm with obstinacy, and the contest would have +ended in a battle, not without bloodshed, had not Quinctius, the other +consul, having intrusted the men of consular rank with the task of +removing his colleague from the forum by force, if they could not +do so in any other way, himself now assuaged the raging people by +entreaties, now implored the tribunes to dismiss the assembly. Let +them, said he, give their passion time to cool: delay would not in +any respect deprive them of their power, but would add prudence to +strength; and the senators would be under the control of the people, +and the consul under that of the senators. + +The people were with difficulty pacified by Quinctius; the other +consul with much more difficulty by the patricians. The assembly of +the people having been at length dismissed, the consuls convened the +senate; in which, though fear and resentment by turns had produced a +diversity of opinions, the more their minds were called off, by lapse +of time, from passion to reflection, the more adverse did they become +to contentiousness, so that they returned thanks to Quinctius, because +it was owing to his exertions that the disturbance had been quieted. +Appius was requested to give his consent that the consular dignity +should be merely so great as it could be in a state if it was to be +united: it was declared that, as long as the tribunes and consuls +claimed all power, each for his own side, no strength was left +between: that the commonwealth was distracted and torn asunder: that +the object aimed at was rather to whom it should belong, than that +it should be safe. Appius, on the contrary, called gods and men to +witness that the commonwealth was being betrayed and abandoned through +cowardice; that it was not the consul who had failed to support the +senate, but the senate the consul: that more oppressive conditions +were now being submitted to than had been submitted to on the Sacred +Mount. Overcome, however, by the unanimous feeling of the senators, he +desisted: the law was carried without opposition. + +Then for the first time the tribunes were elected in the comita +tributa. Piso is the authority for the statement that three were added +to the number, as if there had been only two before. He also gives +the names of the tribunes, Gnæus Siccius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus +Duellius, Spurius Icilius, Lucius Mecilius. During the disturbance +at Rome, a war broke out with the Volscians and Æquans, who had laid +waste the country, so that, if any secession of the people took place, +they might find a refuge with them. Afterward, when matters were +settled, they moved back their camp. Appius Claudius was sent against +the Volscians; the Æquans fell to Quinctius as his province. Appius +exhibited the same severity in war as at home, only more unrestrained, +because it was free from the control of the tribunes. He hated the +commons with a hatred greater than that inherited from his father: he +had been defeated by them: when he had been chosen consul as the only +man able to oppose the influence of the tribunes, a law had been +passed, which former consuls had obstructed with less effect, amid +hopes of the senators by no means so great as those now placed in him. +His resentment and indignation at this stirred his imperious temper to +harass the army by the severity of his command; it could not, however, +be subdued by any exercise of authority, with such a spirit of +opposition were the soldiers filled. They carried out all orders +slowly, indolently, carelessly, and stubbornly: neither shame nor +fear restrained them. If he wished the march to be accelerated, they +designedly went more slowly: if he came up to them to encourage them +in their work, they all relaxed the energy which they had before +exerted of their own accord: they cast down their eyes in his +presence, they silently cursed him as he passed by; so that that +spirit, unconquered by plebeian hatred, was sometimes moved. Every +kind of severity having been tried without effect, he no longer held +any intercourse with the soldiers; he said the army was corrupted by +the centurions; he sometimes gibingly called them tribunes of the +people and Voleros. + +None of these circumstances were unknown to the Volscians, and they +pressed on with so much the more vigour, hoping that the Roman +soldiers would entertain the same spirit of opposition against Appius +as they had formerly exhibited against the consul Fabius. However, +they showed themselves still more embittered against Appius than +against Fabius. For they were not only unwilling to conquer, like the +army of Fabius, but even wished to be conquered. When led forth into +the field, they made for their camp in ignominious flight, and did +not stand their ground until they saw the Volscians advancing against +their fortifications, and the dreadful havoc in the rear of their +army. Then they were compelled to put forth their strength for battle, +in order that the now victorious enemy might be dislodged from their +lines; while, however, it was sufficiently clear that the Roman +soldiers were only unwilling that the camp should be taken, in regard +to all else they gloried in their own defeat and disgrace. When the +haughty spirit of Appius, in no wise broken by this behaviour of the +soldiers, purposed to act with still greater severity, and summoned a +meeting, the lieutenants and tribunes flocked around him, recommending +him by no means to decide to put his authority to the proof, the +entire strength of which lay in unanimous obedience, saying that the +soldiers generally refused to come to the assembly, and that their +voices were heard on all sides, demanding that the camp should be +removed from the Volscian territory: that the victorious enemy were +but a little time ago almost at the very gates and rampart, and that +not merely a suspicion but the visible form of a grievous disaster +presented itself to their eyes. Yielding at last--since they gained +nothing save a respite from punishment--having prorogued the assembly, +and given orders that their march should be proclaimed for the +following day, at daybreak he gave the signal for departure by sound +of trumpet. At the very moment when the army, having got clear of the +camp, was forming itself, the Volscians, as if they had been aroused +by the same signal, fell upon those in the rear: from these the alarm +spreading to the van, threw both the battalions and companies into +such a state of consternation, that neither could the general's +orders be distinctly heard, nor the lines drawn up. No one thought +of anything but flight. In such loose order did they make their way +through heaps of dead bodies and arms, that the enemy ceased their +pursuit sooner than the Romans their flight. The soldiers having at +length rallied from their disordered flight, the consul, after he had +in vain followed his men, bidding them return, pitched his camp in a +peaceful part of the country; and having convened an assembly, after +inveighing not without good reason against the army, as traitors to +military discipline, deserters of their posts, asking them, one by one +where were their standards, where their arms, he first beat with rods +and then beheaded those soldiers who had thrown down their arms, +the standard-bearers who had lost their standards, and also the +centurions, and those who received double allowance,[76] who had +deserted their ranks. With respect to the rest of the rank and file, +every tenth man was drawn by lot for punishment. + +On the other hand, the consul and soldiers among the Æquans vied with +each other in courtesy and acts of kindness: Quinctius was naturally +milder in disposition, and the ill-fated severity of his colleague had +caused him to give freer vent to his own good temper. This remarkable +agreement between the general and his army the Æquans did not venture +to meet, but suffered the enemy to go through their country committing +devastations in every direction. Nor were depredations committed more +extensively in that quarter in any preceding war. The whole of the +booty was given to the soldiers. In addition, they received praise, in +which the minds of soldiers find no less pleasure than in rewards. The +army returned more reconciled both to their general, and also, thanks +to the general, to the patricians, declaring that a parent had been +given to them, a tyrant to the other army by the senate. The year +which had passed with varied success in war, and violent dissensions +at home and abroad, was rendered memorable chiefly by the elections +of tribes, a matter which was more important from the victory in the +contest[77] that was undertaken than from any real advantage; for more +dignity was withdrawn from the elections themselves by the fact that +the patricians were excluded from the council, than influence either +added to the commons or taken from the patricians.[78] + +A still more stormy year followed, when Lucius Valerius and Titus +Æmilius were consuls, both by reason of the struggles between the +different orders concerning the agrarian law, as well as on account +of the trial of Appius Claudius, for whom Marcus Duilius and Gnæus +Siccius appointed a day of trial, as a most active opposer of the law, +and one who supported the cause of the possessors of the public land, +as if he were a third consul [79]. Never before was an accused +person so hateful to the commons brought to trial before the people, +overwhelmed with their resentment against himself and also against his +father. The patricians too seldom made equal exertions so readily on +one's behalf: they declared that the champion of the senate, and the +upholder of their dignity, set up as a barrier against all the storms +of the tribunes and commons, was exposed to the resentment of the +commons, although he had only exceeded the bounds of moderation in the +contest. Appius Claudius himself was the only one of the patricians +who made light both of the tribunes and commons and his own trial. +Neither the threats of the commons, nor the entreaties of the senate, +could ever persuade him even to change his garb, or accost persons +as a suppliant, or even to soften or moderate his usual harshness of +speech in the least degree, when his cause was to be pleaded before +the people. The expression of his countenance was the same; the same +stubbornness in his looks, the same spirit of pride in his language: +so that a great part of the commons felt no less awe of Appius when on +his trial than they had felt for him when consul. He pleaded his cause +only once, and in the same haughty style of an accuser which he had +been accustomed to adopt on all occasions: and he so astounded both +the tribunes and the commons by his intrepidity, that, of their own +accord, they postponed the day of trial, and then allowed the matter +to die out. No long interval elapsed: before, however, the appointed +day came, he died of some disease; and when the tribunes of the people +endeavoured to put a stop to his funeral panegyric, the commons would +not allow the burial day of so great a man to be defrauded of the +customary honours: and they listened to his eulogy when dead as +patiently as they had listened to the charges brought against him when +living, and attended his obsequies in vast numbers. + +In the same year the consul Valerius, having marched with an army +against the Aequans, and being unable to draw out the enemy to an +engagement, proceeded to attack their camp. A dreadful storm coming +down from heaven accompanied by thunder and hail prevented him. Then, +on a signal for a retreat being given, their surprise was excited +by the return of such fair weather, that they felt scruples about +attacking a second time a camp which was defended as it were by some +divine power: all the violence of the war was directed to plundering +the country. The other consul, Aemilius, conducted the war in Sabine +territory. There also, because the enemy confined themselves within +their walls, the lands were laid waste. Then the Sabines, roused by +the burning not only of the farms, but of the villages also, which +were thickly inhabited, after they had fallen in with the raiders +retired from an engagement the issue of which was left undecided, and +on the following day removed their camp into a safer situation. This +seemed a sufficient reason to the consul why he should leave the +enemy as conquered, and depart thence, although the war was as yet +unfinished. + +During these wars, while dissensions still continued at home, Titus +Numicius Priscus and Aulus Verginius were elected consuls. The commons +appeared determined no longer to brook the delay in accepting the +agrarian law, and extreme violence was on the point of being resorted +to, when it became known by the smoke from the burning farms and +the flight of the peasants that the Volscians were at hand; this +circumstance checked the sedition that was now ripe and on the point +of breaking out. The consuls, under the immediate compulsion of the +senate, led forth the youth from the city to war, and thereby rendered +the rest of the commons more quiet. And the enemy indeed, having +merely filled the Romans with fear that proved groundless, departed +in great haste. Numicius marched to Antium against the Volscians, +Verginius against the Aequans. There, after they had nearly met with +a great disaster in an attack from an ambuscade, the bravery of the +soldiers restored their fortunes, which had been endangered through +the carelessness of the consul. Affairs were conducted better in the +case of the Volscians. The enemy were routed in the first engagement, +and driven in flight into the city of Antium, a very wealthy place, +considering the times: the consul, not venturing to attack it, took +from the people of Antium another town, Caeno,[80] which was by no +means so wealthy While the Aequans and Volscians engaged the attention +of the Roman armies, the Sabines advanced in their depredations even +to the gates of the city: then they themselves, a few days later, +sustained from the two armies heavier losses than they had inflicted, +both the consuls having entered their territories under the influence +of exasperation. + +At the close of the year to some extent there was peace, but, as +frequently at other times, a peace disturbed by contests between the +patricians and commons. The exasperated commons refused to attend the +consular elections: Titus Quinctius and Quintus Servilius were elected +consuls through the influence of the patricians and their dependents: +the consuls had a year similar to the preceding, disturbed at the +beginning, and afterward tranquil by reason of war abroad. The Sabines +crossing the plains of Crustumerium by forced marches, after carrying +fire and sword along the banks of the Anio, being repulsed when they +had nearly come up to the Colline gate and the walls, drove off, +however, great booty of men and cattle: the consul Servilius, having +pursued them with an army bent on attacking them, was unable to +overtake the main body itself in the level country: he, however, +extended his devastations over such a wide area, that he left nothing +unmolested by war, and returned after having obtained booty many times +greater than that carried off by the enemy. The public cause was also +extremely well supported among the Volscians by the exertions both of +the general and the soldiers. First a pitched battle was fought, on +level ground, with great slaughter and much bloodshed on both sides: +and the Romans, because their small numbers caused their loss to be +more keenly felt, would have given way, had not the consul, by a +well-timed fiction, reanimated the army, by crying out that the enemy +was in flight on the other wing; having charged, they, by believing +themselves victorious, became so. The consul, fearing lest, by +pressing on too far, he might renew the contest, gave the signal for +retreat. A few days intervened, both sides resting as if by tacit +suspension of hostilities: during these days a vast number of persons +from all the states of the Volscians and Equans came to the camp, +feeling no doubt that the Romans would depart during the night, if +they perceived them. Accordingly, about the third watch [81], they +came to attack the camp. Quinctius having allayed the confusion which +the sudden panic had occasioned, and ordered the soldiers to remain +quiet in their tents, led out a cohort of the Hernicans for an advance +guard: the trumpeters and horn blowers he mounted on horseback, and +commanded them to sound their trumpets before the rampart, and to keep +the enemy in suspense till daylight: during the rest of the night +everything was so quiet in the camp, that the Romans had even the +opportunity of sleeping.[82] The sight of the armed infantry, whom +they both considered to be more numerous than they were, and at the +same time Romans, the bustle and neighing of the horses, which became +restless, both from the fact of strange riders being mounted on them, +and moreover from the sound of the trumpets frightening them, kept the +Volscians intently awaiting an attack of the enemy. + +When the day dawned, the Romans, invigorated and having enjoyed a full +sleep, on being marched out to battle, at the first onset caused the +Volscians to give way, wearied as they were from standing and keeping +watch: though indeed the enemy rather retired than were routed, +because in the rear there were hills to which the unbroken ranks +behind the first line had a safe retreat. The consul, when he came to +the uneven ground, halted his army; the infantry were kept back +with difficulty; they loudly demanded to be allowed to pursue the +discomfited foe. The cavalry were more violent: crowding round the +general, they cried out that they would proceed in front of the first +line. While the consul hesitated, relying on the valour of his men, +yet having little confidence in the nature of the ground, they all +cried out that they would proceed; and execution followed the shout. +Fixing their spears in the ground, in order that they might be lighter +to mount the heights, they advanced uphill at a run. The Volscians, +having discharged their missile weapons at the first onset, hurled +down the stones that lay at their feet upon the Romans as they +were making their way up, and having thrown them into confusion by +incessant blows, strove to drive them from the higher ground: thus +the left wing of the Romans was nearly overborne, had not the consul +dispelled their fear by rousing them to a sense of shame as they were +on the point of retreating, chiding at the same time their temerity +and their cowardice. At first they stood their ground with determined +firmness; then, as they recovered their strength by still holding +their position, they ventured to advance of themselves, and, renewing +their shouts, they encouraged the whole body to advance: then having +made a fresh attack, they forced their way up and surmounted the +unfavourable ground. They were now on the point of gaining the summit +of the hill, when the enemy turned their backs, and pursued and +pursuer at full speed rushed into the camp almost in one body. During +this panic the camp was taken; such of the Volscians as were able to +make good their escape, made for Antium. The Roman army also was +led thither; after having been invested for a few days, the town +surrendered, not in consequence of any new efforts on the part of the +besiegers, but because the spirits of the inhabitants had sunk ever +since the unsuccessful battle and the loss of their camp. + + +[Footnote 1: The functions of the old priest-king were divided, the +political being assigned to the consuls, the duty of sacrificing +to the newly-created rex sacrificulus, who was chosen from the +patricians: he was, nevertheless, subject to the control of the +Pontifex Maximus, by whom he was chosen from several nominees of the +college of priests.] + +[Footnote 2: This, of course applied only to patricians. Plebians were +accounted nobodies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 3: The insula Tiberina between Rome and the Janiculum.] + +[Footnote 4: Vindicta was properly the rod which was laid on the head +of a slave by the magistrate who emancipated him, or by one of his +attendants: the word is supposed to be derived from vim dicere +(to declare authority).] + +[Footnote 5: Near the Janiculum, between the Via Aurelia and the Via +Claudia.] + +[Footnote 6: A part of the Palatine.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The goddess of victory [vi(n)co-pot(is)].] + +[Footnote 8: Practically a sentence of combined excommunication and +outlawry.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 9: Now Chiusi.] + +[Footnote 10: They did not let these salt-works by auction, but took +them under their own management, and carried them on by means +of persons employed to work on the public account. These +salt-works, first established at Ostia by Ancus, were, like other +public property, farmed out to the publicans. As they had a high +rent to pay, the price of salt was raised in proportion; but now the +patricians, to curry favour with the plebeians, did not let the salt-pits +to private tenants, but kept them in the hands of public labourers, to +collect all the salt for the public use; and appointed salesmen to +retail it to the people at a cheaper rate.] + +[Footnote 11: Just below the sole remaining pillar of the Pons +Aemilius.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," has made +this incident the basis of one of the most stirring poems in the +English language. Though familiar to all, it does not seem out of +place to quote from his "Horatius" in connection with the story as +told by Livy: + + "Alone stood brave Horatius, + But constant still in mind; + Thrice thirty thousand foes before + And the broad flood behind. + 'Down with him!' cried false Sextus, + With smile on his pale face. + 'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena, + 'Now yield thee to our grace.' + + * * * * * + + 'O Tiber! father Tiber! + To whom the Romans pray, + A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, + Take thou in charge this day!' + So he spake, and speaking, sheathed + The good sword by his side, + And with his harness on his back + Plunged headlong in the tide. + + No sound of joy or sorrow + Was heard from either bank, + But friends and foes, in dumb surprise, + With parted lips and straining eyes, + Stood gazing where he sank; + And when above the surges + They saw his crest appear, + All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, + And even the ranks of Tuscany + Could scarce forbear to cheer. + + But fiercely ran the current, + Swollen high by months of rain; + And fast his blood was flowing, + And he was sore in pain, + And heavy with his armour, + And spent with changing blows; + And oft they thought him sinking, + But still again he rose. + + * * * * * + + 'Curse on him!' quoth false Sextus, + 'Will not the villain drown? + But for this stay, ere close of day, + We should have sacked the town!' + 'Heaven help him!' quoth Lars Porsena + 'And bring him safe to shore; + For such a gallant feat of arms + Was never seen before.' + + And now he feels the bottom; + Now on dry earth he stands; + Now round him throng the fathers + To press his gory hands; + And now with shouts and clapping, + And noise of weeping loud, + He enters through the River-gate + Borne by the joyous crowd. + + * * * * * + + When the goodman mends his armour, + And trims his helmet's plume; + When the good wife's shuttle merrily + Goes flashing through the loom; + With weeping and with laughter + Still is the story told, + How well Horatius kept the bridge + In the brave days of old." ] + +[Footnote 13: Of the left hand.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: Probably where the Cliva Capitolina begins to ascend the +slope of the Capitol.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 15: The most ancient of the Greek colonies in Italy. Its +ruins are on the coast north of the Promontory of Miseno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: Leading from the forum to the Velabrum.] + +[Footnote 17: It was situated in the Alban Hills about ten miles from +Rome, on the site of the modern Frascati.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Suessa-Pometia, mentioned in former note. Cora is now +Cori.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Their home was in Campania.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: Wooden roofs covered with earth or wet hides, and rolled +forward on wheels for the protection of those engaged in battering or +mining the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, the Romans'.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps because the twenty-four axes of both consuls +went to the dictator.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: Now Palestrina] + +[Footnote 24: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome": The Battle of +Lake Regillus.] + +[Footnote 25: The bound (by the law of debt), from nexo, to join or +connect.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 26: That is, for allowing themselves to suffer it and yet +fight for their oppressors.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 27: For military service.] + +[Footnote:28 Known as Mercuriales. Mercury was the patron of +merchants.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: That is, over the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: About 40,000 men.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: That is, like Vetusius, watching the Aequans, who +uncrippled were lying in their mountain fastnesses in northern Latium, +waiting a chance to renew their ravages.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Modern Velletri.] + +[Footnote 33: a chair-shaped X .Its use was an insignia first of +royalty, then of the higher magistracies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Supposed to be the hill beyond and to the right of the +Ponte Nomentano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucius Calpurnius Piso, the historian.] + +[Footnote 36: This fable is of very great antiquity. Max Müller says +it is found among the Hindus.] + +[Footnote 37: The law which declared the persons of the tribunes +inviolate and him who transgressed it accursed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: Modern Anzio, south of Ostia on the coast of +Latium.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: Between Ardea and Aricia.] + +[Footnote 40: The sixth part of the as, the Roman money unit, which +represented a pound's weight of copper.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 41: Its ruins lie on the road to Terracina, near Norma, and +about forty-five miles from Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: The clientes formed a distinct class; they were the +hereditary dependents of certain patrician families (their patroni) to +whom they were under various obligations; they naturally sided with +the patricians.] + +[Footnote 43: Dionysius and Plutarch give an account of the +prosecution much more favourable to the defendant.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 44: Celebrated annually in the Circus Maximus, September 4th +to 12th, in honour of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, or, according to +some authorities, of Consus and Neptunus Equestus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: A >-shaped yoke placed on the slave's neck, with his +hands tied to the ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 46: In a grove at the foot of the Alban Hill.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: There seems to be something wrong here, as Satricum, +etc., were situated west of the Via Appia, while Livy places them on +the Via Latina. Niebuhr thinks that the words "passing across ... +Latin way," should be transposed, and inserted after the words "he +then took in succession." For the position of these towns, see Map.] + +[Footnote 48: Quintus Fabius Pictor, the historian.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: The ager publicus consisted of the landed estates which +had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land taken from +enemies who had been conquered in war. The patricians, having the +chief political power, gained exclusive occupation (possessio) of this +ager publicus, for which they paid a nominal rent in the shape of +produce and tithes. The nature of the charge brought by Cassius was +not the fact of its being occupied by privati, but by patricians to +the exclusion of plebeians.] + +[Footnote 50: "Quaestors," this is the first mention of these officers +in Livy; in early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those who were guilty of treason, and to carry out the +punishment.] + +[Footnote 51: On the west slope of the Esquiline.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: There seems to be something wrong in the text here, as +the subterfuge was distinctively a patrician one, and the commons had +nothing to gain and all to lose by it. If Livy means that the commons +provoked war by giving cause for the patricians to seek refuge in it, +he certainly puts it very vaguely.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 53: July 15th.] + +[Footnote 54: By being buried alive. The idea being that the +ceremonies could not be duly performed by an unchaste vestal.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 55: By his power of veto.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: These were veterans and formed the third line. The first +were the "hastati," so called from their carrying long spears, +which were later discarded for heavy javelins. The second were the +"principes," the main line.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: The space assigned for the general's tent.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: The legati of a general were at once his council of war +and his staff.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 59: There is much in the description of this battle not easy +to understand, and I am inclined to believe it was at least no better +than drawn. The plundered camp, the defeat of the triarii, and +the failure to mention pursuit or consequences, all favour this +supposition.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 60: It was to be victory or annihilation.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 61: so called from the altar of Carmenta, which stood near +it. It was located in or near what is now the Piazza Montanara, and +was always after considered a gate of evil omen.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: Now the Valchetta.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 63: Probably of mercenaries, as the Veientines are alluded +to throughout the paragraph as commanding, and it was apparently not a +case of alliance.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 64: On the Via Flaminia (near the grotta rossa).] + +[Footnote 65: This story has been much questioned by learned +commentators. I see nothing improbable in it if we pare down the +exploits a little, and the evidence, such as it is all pro.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: As this temple was about a mile from the city, it is +probable the Romans were defeated and that the second fight at the +gate means simply that they repulsed an assault on the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: That is, did not renew their assault on the +walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: Evidently only a small detatchment, since they were +in condition to assault a fortified consular camp despite their +defeat.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: The story of this war is much more doubtful than the +exploit of the Fabii, and Livy, as usual, furnishes the material for +his own criticism.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: After the manner of animals about to be +sacrificed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: This was probably the origin of the "clubs" of young +patricians, to which so much of the later violance was due.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 72: The lex sacrata, which declared their persons +inviolate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 73: The assembly of the plebeians by tribes.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 74: Of tribunes.] + +[Footnote 75: The consular year.] + +[Footnote 76: One of the rewards of good conduct was double +rations.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 77: That is, the contest to obtain the reform.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 78: While the plebeians lost the dignity conferred on the +assembly by the presence of distinguished patricians, they gained +nothing, as, in the mere matter of votes, they already had a majority; +and the patricians lost nothing, as the number of their votes would +not be sufficient to render them of much importance.] + +[Footnote 79: There were other specific charges, but Livy confines +himself to the spirit of the prosecution.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 80: The port of Antium, now Nettuno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 81: Midnight.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 82: The rendering of the rest of this section is vague and +unsatisfactory.--D. O.] + + + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE + +After the capture of Antium, Titus Æmilius and Quintus Fabius became +consuls. This was the Fabius who was the sole survivor of the family +that had been annihilated at the Cremera. Æmilius had already in his +former consulship recommended the bestowal of land on the people. +Accordingly, in his second consulship also, both the advocates of the +agrarian law encouraged themselves to hope for the passing of the +measure, and the tribunes took it up, thinking that a result, that +had been frequently attempted in opposition to the consuls, might be +obtained now that at any rate one consul supported it: the consul +remained firm in his opinion. The possessors of state land [1]--and +these a considerable part of the patricians--transferred the odium of +the entire affair from the tribunes to the consul, complaining that a +man, who held the first office in the state, was busying himself with +proposals more befitting the tribunes, and was gaining popularity by +making presents out of other people's property. A violent contest +was at hand; had not Fabius compromised the matter by a suggestion +disagreeable to neither party. That under the conduct and auspices of +Titus Quinctius a considerable tract of land had been taken in the +preceding year from the Volscians: that a colony might be sent to +Antium, a neighbouring and conveniently situated maritime city: in +this manner the commons would come in for lands without any complaints +on the part of the present occupiers, and the state remain at peace. +This proposition was accepted. He secured the appointment of Titus +Quinctius, Aulus Verginius, and Publius Furius as triumvirs for +distributing the land: such as wished to receive land were ordered to +give in their names. The attainment of their object created disgust +immediately, as usually happens, and so few gave in their names that +Volscian colonists were added to fill up the number: the rest of the +people preferred to ask for land in Rome, rather than to receive it +elsewhere. The Aequans sued for peace from Quintus Fabius (he had +gone thither with an army), and they themselves broke it by a sudden +incursion into Latin territory. + +In the following year Quintus Servilius (for he was consul with +Spurius Postumius), being sent against the Aequans, pitched his camp +permanently in Latin territory: unavoidable inaction held the army in +check, since it was attacked by illness. The war was protracted to the +third year, when Quintus Fabius and Titus Quinctius were consuls. To +Fabius, because he, as conqueror, had granted peace to the Aequans +that sphere of action was assigned in an unusual manner.[2]He, setting +out with a sure hope that his name and renown would reduce the Aequans +to submission, sent ambassadors to the council of the nation, and +ordered them to announce that Quintus Fabius, the consul, stated that +he had brought peace to Rome from the Aequans, that from Rome he now +brought them war, with that same right hand, but now armed, which he +had formerly given to them in amity; that the gods were now witnesses, +and would presently take vengeance on those by whose perfidy and +perjury that had come to pass. That he, however, be matters as they +might, even now preferred that the Aequans should repent of their own +accord rather than suffer the vengeance of an enemy. If they repented, +they would have a safe retreat in the clemency they had already +experienced; but if they still took pleasure in perjury, they would +wage war with the gods enraged against them rather than their enemies. +These words had so little effect on any of them that the ambassadors +were near being ill-treated, and an army was sent to Algidum[3] +against the Romans. When news of this was brought to Rome, the +indignity of the affair, rather than the danger, caused the other +consul to be summoned from the city; thus two consular armies advanced +against the enemy in order of battle, intending to come to an +engagement at once. But as it happened that not much of the day +remained, one of the advance guard of the enemy cried out: "This is +making a show of war, Romans, not waging it: you draw up your army +in line of battle, when night is at hand; we need a longer period of +daylight for the contest which is to come. Tomorrow at sunrise return +to the field: you shall have an opportunity of fighting, never fear." +The soldiers, stung by these taunts, were marched back into camp till +the following day, thinking that a long night was approaching, which +would cause the contest to be delayed. Then indeed they refreshed +their bodies with food and sleep: on the following day, when it was +light, the Roman army took up their position some considerable time +before. At length the Aequans also advanced. The battle was hotly +contested on both sides, because the Romans fought under the influence +of resentment and hatred, while the Aequans were compelled by a +consciousness of danger incurred by misconduct, and despair of any +confidence being reposed in them hereafter, to venture and to have +recourse to the most desperate efforts. The Aequans, however, did +not withstand the attack of the Roman troops, and when, having been +defeated, they had retired to their own territories, the savage +multitude, with feelings not at all more disposed to peace, began to +rebuke their leaders: that their fortunes had been intrusted to the +hazard of a pitched battle, in which mode of fighting the Romans were +superior. That the Aequans were better adapted for depredations and +incursions, and that several parties, acting in different directions, +conducted wars with greater success than the unwieldy mass of a single +army. + +Accordingly, having left a guard over the camp, they marched out and +attacked the Roman frontiers with such fury that they carried terror +even to the city: the fact that this was unexpected also caused +more alarm, because it was least of all to be feared that an enemy, +vanquished and almost besieged in their camp, should entertain +thoughts of depredation: and the peasants, rushing through the gates +in a state of panic, cried out that it was not a mere raid, nor +small parties of plunderers, but, exaggerating everything in their +groundless fear, whole armies and legions of the enemy that were close +at hand, and that they were hastening toward the city in hostile +array. Those who were nearest carried to others the reports heard from +these, reports vague and on that account more groundless: and the +hurry and clamour of those calling to arms bore no distant resemblance +to the panic that arises when a city has been taken by storm. It so +happened that the consul Quinctius had returned to Rome from Algidum: +this brought some relief to their terror; and, the tumult being +calmed, after chiding them for their dread of a vanquished enemy, he +set a guard on the gates. Then a meeting of the senate was summoned, +and a suspension of business proclaimed by their authority: he +himself, having set out to defend the frontiers, leaving behind +Quintus Servilius as prefect of the city, found no enemy in the +country. Affairs were conducted with distinguished success by the +other consul; who, having attacked the enemy, where he knew that they +would arrive, laden with booty, and therefore marching with their +army the more encumbered, caused their depredation to prove their +destruction. Few of the enemy escaped from the ambuscade; all the +booty was recovered. Thus the return of the consul Quinctius to the +city put an end to the suspension of business, which lasted four days. +A census[4] was then held, and the lustrum [Footnote: The ceremony of +purification took place every five years, hence "Justrum" came to be +used for a period of five years.] closed by Quinctius: the number of +citizens rated is said to have been one hundred and four thousand +seven hundred and fourteen, not counting orphans of both sexes. +Nothing memorable occurred afterward among the Æquans; they retired +into their towns, allowing their possessions to be consumed by +fire and devastated. The consul, after he had repeatedly carried +devastation with a hostile army through the whole of the enemy's +country, returned to Rome with great glory and booty. + +The next consuls were Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. +Furii is by some writers written Fusii; this I mention, to prevent any +one thinking that the change, which is only in the names, is in the +persons themselves. There was no doubt that one of the consuls was +about tobegin hostilities against the Æquans. The latter accordingly +sought help from the Volscians of Ecetra; this was readily granted +(so keenly did these states contend in inveterate hatred against the +Romans), and preparations for war were made with the utmost vigour. +The Hernicans came to hear of it, and warned the Romans that the +Ecetrans had revolted to the Æquans: the colony of Antium also was +suspected, because, after the town had been taken a great number of +the inhabitants had fled thence for refuge to the Æquans: and these +soldiers behaved with the very greatest bravery during the course of +the war. After the Æquans had been driven into the towns, when this +rabble returned to Antium, it alienated from the Romans the colonists +who were already of their own accord disposed to treachery. The matter +not yet being ripe, when it had been announced to the senate that a +revolt was intended, the consuls were charged to inquire what was +going on, the leading men of the colony being summoned to Rome. When +they had attended without reluctance, they were conducted before the +senate by the consuls, and gave such answers to the questions that +were put to them that they were dismissed more suspected than they had +come. + +After this, war was regarded as inevitable. Spurius Furius, one of +the consuls to whom that sphere of action had fallen, having marched +against the Aequans, found the enemy committing depredations in the +country of the Hernicans; and being ignorant of their numbers, because +they had nowhere been seen all together, he rashly hazarded an +engagement with an army which was no match for their forces. Being +driven from his position at the first onset, he retreated to his camp; +nor was that the end of his danger; for both on the next night and the +following day, his camp was beset and assaulted with such vigour that +not even a messenger could be despatched thence to Rome. The Hernicans +brought news both that an unsuccessful battle had been fought, and +that the consul and army were besieged; and inspired the senate with +such terror, that the other consul Postumius was charged to see to it +that the commonwealth took no harm,[5] a form of decree which has ever +been deemed to be one of extreme urgency. It seemed most advisable +that the consul himself should remain at Rome to enlist all such +as were able to bear arms: that Titus Quinctius should be sent as +proconsul[6] to the relief of the camp with the army of the allies: to +complete this army the Latins and Hernicans, and the colony of Antium +were ordered to supply Quinctius with troops hurriedly raised-such was +the name (subitarii) that they gave to auxiliaries raised for sudden +emergencies. + +During those days many manoeuvres and many attacks were carried out +on both sides, because the enemy, having the advantage in numbers, +attempted to harass the Roman forces by attacking them on many sides, +as not likely to prove sufficient to meet all attacks. While the camp +was being besieged, at the same time part of the army was sent to +devastate Roman territory, and to make an attempt upon the city +itself, should fortune favour. Lucius Valerius was left to guard the +city: the consul Postumius was sent to prevent the plundering of the +frontiers. There was no abatement in any quarter either of vigilance +or activity; watches were stationed in the city, outposts before the +gates, and guards along the walls: and a cessation of business +was observed for several days, as was necessary amid such general +confusion. In the meantime the consul Furius, after he had at first +passively endured the siege in his camp, sallied forth through the +main gate[7] against the enemy when off their guard; and though he +might have pursued them, he stopped through apprehension, that an +attack might be made on the camp from the other side. The lieutenant +Furius (he was also the consul's brother) was carried away too far +in pursuit: nor did he, in his eagerness to follow them up, observe +eitherhis own party returning, or the attack of the enemy on his rear: +being thus shut out, having repeatedly made many unavailing efforts to +force his way to the camp, he fell, fighting bravely. In like manner +the consul, turning about to renew the fight, on being informed that +his brother was surrounded, rushing into the thick of the fight rashly +rather than with sufficient caution, was wounded, and with difficulty +rescued by those around him. This both damped the courage of his own +men, and increased the boldness of the enemy; who, being encouraged +by the death of the lieutenant, and by the consul's wound, could not +afterward have been withstood by any force, as the Romans, having been +driven into their camp, were again being besieged, being a match for +them neither in hopes nor in strength, and the very existence of the +state would have been imperilled, had not Titus Quinctius come to +their relief with foreign troops, the Latin and Hernican army. He +attacked the Aequans on their rear while their attention was fixed on +the Roman camp, and while they were insultingly displaying the head of +the lieutenant: and, a sally being made at the same time from the camp +at a signal given by himself from a distance, he surrounded a large +force of the enemy. Of the Aequans in Roman territory the slaughter +was less, their flight more disorderly. As they straggled in different +directions, driving their plunder before them, Postumius attacked +them in several places, where he had posted bodies of troops in +advantageous positions. They, while straying about and pursuing their +flight in great disorder, fell in with the victorious Quinctius as he +was returning with the wounded consul. Then the consular army by its +distinguished bravery amply avenged the consul's wound, and the death +of the lieutenant and the slaughter of the cohorts; heavy losses were +both inflicted and received on both sides during those days. In a +matter of such antiquity it is difficult to state, so as to inspire +conviction, the exact number of those who fought or fell: Antias +Valerius, however, ventures to give an estimate of the numbers: that +in the Hernican territory there fell five thousand eight hundred +Romans; that of the predatory parties of the Aequans, who strayed +through the Roman frontiers for the purpose of plundering, two +thousand four hundred were slain by the consul Aulus Postumius; that +the rest of the body which fell in with Quinctius while driving its +booty before them, by no means got off with a loss equally small: of +these he asserts that four thousand, and by way of stating the number +exactly, two hundred and thirty were slain. After their return to +Rome, the cessation of business was abandoned. The sky seemed to be +all ablaze with fire; and other prodigies either actually presented +themselves before men's eyes, or exhibited imaginary appearances to +their affrighted minds. To avert these terrors, a solemn festival for +three days was proclaimed, during which all the shrines were filled +with a crowd of men and women, earnestly imploring the favour of the +gods. After this the Latin and Hernican cohorts were sent back to +their respective homes, after they had been thanked by the senate for +their spirited conduct in war. The thousand soldiers from Antium were +dismissed almost with disgrace, because they had come after the battle +too late to render assistance. + +The elections were then held: Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius +were elected consuls, and entered on their office on the calends of +August[8] according to the practice of beginning the year on that +date. It was an unhealthy season, and it so happened that the year [9] +was pestilential to the city and country, and not more to men than to +cattle; and they themselves increased the severity of the disease by +admitting the cattle and the peasants into the city in consequence of +their dread of devastation. This collection of animals of every kind +mingled together both distressed the inhabitants of the city by the +unusual stench, and also the peasants, crowded together into their +confined dwellings, by heat and want of sleep while their attendance +on each other, and actual contact helped to spread disease. While they +were hardly able to endure the calamities that pressed upon them, +ambassadors from the Hernicans suddenly brought word that the Aequans +and Volscians had united their forces, and pitched their camp in their +territory: that from thence they were devastating their frontiers with +an immense army. In addition to the fact that the small attendance of +the senate was a proof to the allies that the state was prostrated by +the pestilence, they further received this melancholy answer: That the +Hernicans, as well as the Latins, must now defend their possessions by +their own unaided exertions. That the city of Rome, through the sudden +anger of the gods, was ravaged by disease. If any relief from that +calamity should arise, that they would afford aid to their allies, +as they had done the year before, and always on other occasions. The +allies departed, carrying home, instead of the melancholy news they +had brought, news still more melancholy, seeing that they were now +obliged to sustain by their own resources a war, which they would have +with difficulty sustained even if backed by the power of Rome. The +enemy no longer confined themselves to the Hernican territory. They +proceeded thence with determined hostility into the Roman territories, +which were already devastated without the injuries of war. There, +without any one meeting them, not even an unarmed person, they +passed through entire tracts destitute not only of troops, but +even uncultivated, and reached the third milestone on the Gabinian +road.[10] Aebutius, the Roman consul, was dead: his colleague, +Servilius, was dragging out his life with slender hope of recovery; +most of the leading men, the chief part of the patricians, nearly all +those of military age, were stricken down with disease, so that they +not only had not sufficient strength for the expeditions, which amid +such an alarm the state of affairs required, but scarcely even for +quietly mounting guard. Those senators, whose age and health permitted +them, personally discharged the duty of sentinels. The patrol and +general supervision was assigned to the plebeian aediles: on them +devolved the chief conduct of affairs and the majesty of the consular +authority. + +The commonwealth thus desolate, since it was without a head, and +without strength, was saved by the guardian gods and good fortune of +the city, which inspired the Volscians and Æquans with the disposition +of freebooters rather than of enemies; for so far were their minds +from entertaining any hope not only of taking but even of approaching +the walls of Rome, and so thoroughly did the sight of the houses in +the distance, and the adjacent hills, divert their thoughts, that, on +a murmur arising throughout the entire camp--why should they waste +time in indolence without booty in a wild and desert land, amid the +pestilence engendered by cattle and human beings, when they could +repair to places as yet unattacked--the Tusculan territory abounding +in wealth? They suddenly pulled up their standards,[11] and, by +cross-country marches, passed through the Lavican territory to the +Tusculan hills: to that quarter the whole violence and storm of the +war was directed. In the meantime the Hernicans and Latins, influenced +not only by compassion but by a feeling of shame, if they neither +opposed the common enemy who were making for the city of Rome with +a hostile army, nor afforded any aid to their allies when besieged, +marched to Rome with united forces. Not finding the enemy there, they +followed their tracks in the direction they were reported to have +taken, and met them as they were coming down from Tusculan territory +into the Alban valley: there a battle was fought under circumstances +by no means equal; and their fidelity proved by no means favourable to +the allies for the time being. The havoc caused by pestilence at Rome +was not less than that caused by the sword among the allies: the only +surviving consul died, as well as other distinguished men, Marcus +Valerius, Titus Verginius Rutilus, augurs: Servius Sulpicius, chief +priest of the curies:[12] while among undistinguished persons the +virulence of the disease spread extensively: and the senate, destitute +of human aid, directed the people's attention to the gods and to vows: +they were ordered to go and offer supplications with their wives and +children, and to entreat the favour of Heaven. Besides the fact that +their own sufferings obliged each to do so, when summoned by public +authority, they filled all the shrines; the prostrate matrons in every +quarter sweeping the temples with their hair, begged for a remission +of the divine displeasure, and a termination to the pestilence. + +From this time, whether it was that the favour of the gods was +obtained, or that the more unhealthful season of the year was now +over, the bodily condition of the people, now rid of disease, +gradually began to be more healthy, and their attention being +now directed to public concerns, after the expiration of several +interregna, Publius Valerius Publicola, on the third day after he had +entered on his office of interrex,[13] procured the election of Lucius +Lucretius Tricipitinus, and Titus Veturius (or Vetusius) Geminus, to +the consulship. They entered on their consulship on the third day +before the ides of August,[14] the state being now strong enough +not only to repel a a hostile attack, but even to act itself on the +offensive. Therefore when the Hernicans announced that the enemy had +crossed over into their boundaries, assistance was readily promised: +two consular armies were enrolled. Veturius was sent against the +Volscians to carry on an offensive war. Tricipitinus, being posted to +protect the territory of the allies from devastation, proceeded no +further than into the countryof the Hernicans. Veturius routed and put +the enemy to flight in the first engagement. A party of plunderers, +led over the Praenestine Mountains, and from thence sent down into the +plains, was unobserved by Lucretius, while he lay encamped among the +Hernicans. These laid waste all the countryaround Praeneste and Gabii: +from the Gabinian territory they turned their course toward the +heights of Tusculum; great alarm was excited in the city of Rome also, +more from the suddenness of the affair than because there was not +sufficient strength to repel the attack. Quintus Fabius was in command +of the city; he, having armed the young men and posted guards, made +things secure and tranquil. The enemy, therefore, not venturing to +approach the city, when they were returning by a circuitous route, +carrying off plunder from the adjacent places, their caution being now +more relaxed, in proportion as they removed to a greater distance from +the enemy's city, fell in with the consul Lucretius, who had already +reconnoitred his lines of march, and whose army was drawn up in battle +array and resolved upon an engagement. Accordingly, having attacked +them with predetermined resolution, though with considerably inferior +forces, they routed and put to flight their numerous army, while +smitten with sudden panic, and having driven them into the deep +valleys, where means of egress were not easy, they surrounded them. +There the power of the Volscians was almost entirely annihilated. In +some annals, I find that thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy +fell in battle and in flight that one thousand seven hundred and fifty +were taken alive, that twenty-seven military standards were captured: +and although in accounts there may have been some exaggeration in +regard to numbers, undoubtedly great slaughter took place. The +victorious consul, having obtained immense booty, returned to his +former standing camp. Then the consuls joined camps. The Volscians and +Æquans also united their shattered strength. This was the third battle +in that year; the same good fortune gave them victory; the enemy was +routed, and their camp taken. + +Thus the affairs of Rome returned to their former condition; and +successes abroad immediately excited commotions in the city. Gaius +Terentilius Harsa was tribune of the people in that year: he, +considering that an opportunity was afforded for tribunician intrigues +during the absence of the consuls began, after railing against the +arrogance of the patricians for several days before the people, to +inveigh chiefly against the consular authority, as being excessive +and intolerable for a free state: for that in name only was it less +hateful, in reality it was almost more cruel than the authority of the +kings: that forsooth in place of one, two masters had been accepted, +with unbounded and unlimited power, who, themselves unrestrained and +unbridled, directed all the terrors of the law, and all kinds of +punishments against the commons. Now, in order that their unbounded +license might not last forever, he would bring forward a law that five +persons be appointed to draw up laws regarding the consular power, by +which the consul should use that right which the people should have +given him over them, not considering their own caprice and license +as law. Notice having been given of this law, as the patricians were +afraid, lest, in the absence of the consuls, they should be subjected +to the yoke; the senate was convened by Quintus Fabius, prefect of the +city, who inveighed so vehemently against the bill and its proposer +that no kind of threats or intimidation was omitted by him, which both +the consuls could supply, even though they surrounded the tribune in +all their exasperation: That he had lain in wait, and, having seized a +favourable opportunity, had made an attack on the commonwealth. If +the gods in their anger had given them any tribune like him in the +preceding year, during the pestilence and war, it could not have +been endured: that, when both the consuls were dead, and the state +prostrate and enfeebled, in the midst of the general confusion he +would have proposed laws to abolish the consular government altogether +from the state; that he would have headed the Volscians and Æquans in +an attack on the city. What, if the consuls behaved in a tyrannical or +cruel manner against any of the citizens, was it not open to him to +appoint a day of trial for them, to arraign them before those very +judges against any one of whom severity might have been exercised? +That he by his conduct was rendering, not the consular authority, but +the tribunician power hateful and insupportable; which, after having +been in a state of peace, and on good terms with the patricians, was +now being brought back anew to its former mischievous practices; nor +did he beg of him not to proceed as he had begun. "Of you, the other +tribunes," said Fabius, "we beg that you will first of all consider +that that power was appointed for the aid of individuals, not for the +ruin of the community; that you were created tribunes of the commons, +not enemies of the patricians. To us it is distressing, to you +a source of odium, that the republic, now bereft of its chief +magistrates, should be attacked; you will diminish not your rights, +but the odium against you. Confer with your colleague that he may +postpone this business till the arrival of the consuls, to be then +discussed afresh; even the Æquans and the Volscians, when our consuls +were carried off by pestilence last year, did not harass us with a +cruel and tyrannical war." The tribunes conferred with Terentilius, +and the bill being to all appearance deferred, but in reality +abandoned, the consuls were immediately sent for. + +Lucretius returned with immense spoil, and much greater glory; and +this glory he increased on his arrival, by exposing all the booty in +the Campus Martius, so that each person might, for the space of three +days, recognise what belonged to him and carry it away; the remainder, +for which no owners were forthcoming, was sold. A triumph was by +universal consent due to the consul; but the matter was deferred, as +the tribune again urged his law; this to the consul seemed of greater +importance. The business was discussed for several days, both in the +senate and before the people: at last the tribune yielded to the +majesty of the consul, and desisted; then their due honour was paid to +the general and his army. He triumphed over the Volscians and Æquans; +his troops followed him in his triumph. The other consul was allowed +to enter the city in ovation[15]unaccompanied by his soldiers. + +In the following year the Terentilian law, being brought forward +again by the entire college, engaged the serious attention of the new +consuls, who were Publius Volumnius and Servius Sulpicius. In that +year the sky seemed to be on fire, and a violent earthquake took +place: it was believed that an ox spoke, a phenomenon which had not +been credited in the previous year: among other prodigies there was a +shower of flesh, which a large flock of birds is said to have carried +off by pecking at the falling pieces: that which fell to the ground +is said to have lain scattered about just as it was for several days, +without becoming tainted. The books were consulted[16] by the duumviri +for sacred rites: dangers of attacks to be made on the highest +parts of the city, and of consequent bloodshed, were predicted as +threatening from an assemblage of strangers; among other things, +admonition was given that all intestine disturbances should be +abandoned.[17] The tribunes alleged that that was done to obstruct the +law, and a desperate contest was at hand. + +On a sudden, however, that the same order of events might be renewed +each year, the Hernicans announced that the Volscians and the Æquans, +in spite of their strength being much impaired, were recruiting their +armies: that the centre of events was situated at Antium; that the +colonists of Antium openly held councils at Ecetra: that there was the +head--there was the strength--of the war. As soon as this announcement +was made in the senate, a levy was proclaimed: the consuls were +commanded to divide the management of the war between them; that the +Volscians should be the sphere of action of the one, the Æquans of the +other. The tribunes loudly declared openly in the forum that the story +of the Volscian war was nothing but a got-up farce: that the Hernicans +had been trained to act their parts: that the liberty of the Roman +people was now not even crushed by manly efforts, but was baffled by +cunning; because it was now no longer believed that the Volscians and +the Æquans who were almost utterly annihilated, could of themselves +begin hostilities, new enemies were sought for: that a loyal colony, +and one in their very vicinity, was being rendered infamous: that war +was proclaimed against the unoffending people of Antium, in reality +waged with the commons of Rome, whom, loaded with arms, they were +determined to drive out of the city with precipitous haste, wreaking +their vengeance on the tribunes by the exile and expulsion of their +fellow-citizens. That by these means--and let them not think that +there was any other object contemplated--the law was defeated, unless, +while the matter was still in abeyance, while they were still at home +and in the grab of citizens, they took precautions, so as to avoid +being driven out of possession of the city, or being subjected to the +yoke. If they only had spirit, support would not be wanting: that +all the tribunes were unanimous: that there was no apprehension from +abroad, no danger. That the gods had taken care, in the preceding +year that their liberty could be defended with safety. Thus spoke the +tribunes. + +But on the other side, the consuls, having placed their chairs[18] +within view of them, were holding the levy; thither the tribunes +hastened down, and carried the assembly along with them; a few [19] +were summoned, as it were, by way of making an experiment, and +instantly violence ensued. Whomsoever the lictor laid hold of by order +of the consul, him the tribune ordered to be released; nor did his own +proper jurisdiction set a limit to each, but they rested their hopes +on force, and whatever they set their mind upon, was to be gained by +violence. Just as the tribunes had behaved in impeding the levy, in +the same manner did the consuls conduct themselves in obstructing the +law which was brought forward on each assembly day. The beginning of +the riot was that the patricians refused to allow themselves to be +moved away, when the tribunes ordered the people to proceed to give +their vote. Scarcely any of the older citizens mixed themselves up +in the affair, inasmuch as it was one that would not be directed by +prudence, but was entirely abandoned to temerity and daring. The +consuls also frequently kept out of the way, lest in the general +confusion they might expose their dignity to insult. There was one +Cæso Quinctius, a youth who prided himself both on the nobility of +his descent, and his bodily stature and strength; to these endowments +bestowed on him by the gods, he himself had added many brave deeds +in war, and eloquence in the forum; so that no one in the state was +considered readier either in speech or action. When he had taken his +place in the midst of a body of the patricians, pre-eminent above +the rest, carrying as it were in his eloquence and bodily strength +dictatorships and consulships combined, he alone withstood the storms +of the tribunes and the populace. Under his guidance the tribunes were +frequently driven from the forum, the commons routed and dispersed; +such as came in his way, came off ill-treated and stripped: so that it +became quite clear that, if he were allowed to proceed in this way, +the law was as good as defeated Then, when the other tribunes were +now almost thrown into despair, Aulus Verginius, one of the colleges, +appointed a day for Cæso to take his trial on a capital charge. By +this proceeding he rather irritated than intimidated his violent +temper: so much the more vigorously did he oppose the law, harass +the commons, and persecute the tribunes, as if in a regular war. The +accuser suffered the accused to rush headlong to his ruin, and to fan +the flame of odium and supply material for the charges he intended to +bring against him: in the meantime he proceeded with the law, not +so much in the hope of carrying it through, as with the object +of provoking rash action on the part of Cæso. After that many +inconsiderate expressions and actions of the younger patricians were +put down to the temper of Cæso alone, owing to the suspicion with +which he was regarded: still the law was resisted. Also Aulus +Verginius frequently remarked to the people: "Are you now sensible, +Quirites that you can not at the same time have Cæso as a +fellow-citizen, and the law which you desire? Though why do I speak +of the law? He is a hindrance to your liberty; he surpasses all the +Tarquins in arrogance. Wait till that man is made consul or dictator, +whom, though but a private citizen, you now see exercising kingly +power by his strength and audacity." Many agreed, complaining that +they had been beaten by him: and, moreover, urged the tribune to go +through with the prosecution. + +The day of trial was now at hand, and it was evident that people in +general considered that their liberty depended on the condemnation of +Cæso: then, at length being forced to do so, he solicited the commons +individually, though with a strong feeling of indignation; his +relatives and the principal men of the state attended him. Titus +Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, recounting many +splendid achievements of his own, and of his family, declared that +neither in the Quinctian family, nor in the Roman state, had there +ever appeared such a promising genius displaying such early valour. +That he himself was the first under whom he had served, that he had +often in his sight fought against the enemy. Spurius Furius declared +that Cæso, having been sent to him by Quinctius Capitolinus, had come +to his aid when in the midst of danger; that there was no single +individual by whose exertions he considered the common weal had been +more effectually re-established. Lucius Lucretius, the consul of the +preceding year, in the full splendour of recent glory, shared his own +meritorious services with Cæso; he recounted his battles detailed his +distinguished exploits, both in expeditions and in pitched battle; +he recommended and advised them to choose rather that a youth so +distinguished, endowed with all the advantages of nature and fortune, +and one who should prove the greatest support of whatsoever state he +should visit, should continue to be a fellow-citizen of their own, +rather than become the citizen of a foreign state: that with respect +to those qualities which gave offence in him, hot-headedness and +overboldness, they were such as increasing years removed more and more +every day: that what was lacking, prudence, increased day by day: that +as his faults declined, and his virtues ripened, they should allow so +distinguished a man to grow old in the state. Among these his father, +Lucius Quinctius, who bore the surname of Cincinnatus, without +dwelling too often on his services, so as not to heighten public +hatred, but soliciting pardon for his youthful errors, implored them +to forgive his son for his sake, who had not given offence to any +either by word or deed. But while some, through respect or fear, +turned away from his entreaties, others, by the harshness of their +answer, complaining that they and their friends had been ill-treated, +made no secret of what their decision would be. + +Independently of the general odium, one charge in particular bore +heavily on the accused; that Marcus Volscius Fictor, who some years +before had been tribune of the people, had come forward to bear +testimony: that not long after the pestilence had raged in the city, +he had fallen in with a party of young men rioting in the Subura;[20] +that a scuffle had taken place: and that his elder brother, not yet +perfectly recovered from his illness, had been knocked down by Cæso +with a blow of his fist: that he had been carried home half dead in +the arms of some bystanders, and that he was ready to declare that +he had died from the blow: and that he had not been permitted by +the consuls of former years to obtain redress for such an atrocious +affair. In consequence of Volscius vociferating these charges, the +people became so excited that Cæso was near being killed through the +violence of the crowd. Verginius ordered him to be seized and dragged +off to prison. The patricians opposed force to force. Titus Quinctius +exclaimed that a person for whom a day of trial for a capital offence +had been appointed, and whose trial was now close at hand, ought not +to be outraged before he was condemned, and without a hearing. The +tribune replied that he would not inflict punishment on him before he +was condemned: that he would, however, keep him in prison until the +day of trial, that the Roman people might have an opportunity of +inflicting punishment on one who had killed a man.[21] The tribunes +being appealed to, got themselves out of the difficulty in regard to +their prerogative of rendering aid, by a resolution that adopted a +middle course: they forbade his being thrown into confinement, and +declared it to be their wish that the accused should be brought to +trial, and that a sum of money should be promised to the people, +in case he should not appear. How large a sum of money ought to be +promised was a matter of doubt: the decision was accordingly referred +to the senate. The accused was detained in public custody until the +patricians should be consulted: it was decided that bail should be +given: they bound each surety in the sum of three thousand asses; how +many sureties should be given was left to the tribunes; they fixed the +number at ten: on this number of sureties the prosecutor admitted the +accused to bail.[22] He was the first who gave public sureties. Being +discharged from the forum, he went the following night into exile +among the Tuscans. When on the day of trial it was pleaded that he +had withdrawn into voluntary exile, nevertheless, at a meeting of +the comitia under the presidency of Verginius, his colleagues, when +appealed to, dismissed the assembly: [23] the fine was rigorously +exacted from his father, so that, having sold all his effects, he +lived for a considerable time in an out-of-the-way cottage on the +other side of the Tiber, as if in exile. + +This trial and the proposal of the law gave full employment to the +state: in regard to foreign wars there was peace. When the tribunes, +as if victorious, imagined that the law was all but passed owing to +the dismay of the patricians at the banishment of Cæso, and in +fact, as far as regarded the seniors of the patricians, they had +relinquished all share in the administration of the commonwealth, the +juniors, more especially those who were the intimate friends of Cæso, +redoubled their resentful feelings against the commons, and did not +allow their spirits to fail; but the greatest improvement was made +in this particular, that they tempered their animosity by a certain +degree of moderation. The first time when, after Cseso's banishment, +the law began to be brought forward, these, arrayed and well prepared, +with a numerous body of clients, so attacked the tribunes, as soon as +they afforded a pretext for it by attempting to remove them, that no +one individual carried home from thence a greater share than another, +either of glory or ill-will, but the people complained that in place +of one Cæso a thousand had arisen. During the days that intervened, +when the tribunes took no proceedings regarding the law, nothing could +be more mild or peaceable than those same persons; they saluted the +plebeians courteously, entered into conversation with them, and +invited them home: they attended them in the forum,[24] and suffered +the tribunes themselves to hold the rest of their meetings without +interruption: they were never discourteous to any one either in public +or in private, except on occasions when the matter of the law began +to be agitated. In other respects the young men were popular. And +not only did the tribunes transact all their other affairs without +disturbance, but they were even re-elected or the following year. +Without even an offensive expression, much less any violence being +employed, but by soothing and carefully managing the commons the young +patricians gradually rendered them tractable. By these artifices the +law was evaded through the entire year. + +The consuls Gaius Claudius, the son of Appius, and Publius Valerius +Publicola, took over the government from their predecessors in a more +tranquil condition. The next year had brought with it nothing new: +thoughts about carrying the law, or submitting to it, engrossed the +attention of the state. The more the younger patricians strove +to insinuate themselves into favour with the plebeians, the more +strenuously did the tribunes strive on the other hand to render them +suspicious in the eyes of the commons by alleging that a conspiracy +had been formed; that Cæso was in Rome; that plans had been concerted +for assassinating the tribunes, for butchering the commons. That the +commission assigned by the elder members of the patricians was, that +the young men should abolish the tribunician power from the state, and +the form of government should be the same as it had been before the +occupation of the Sacred Mount. At the same time a war from the +Volscians and Æquans, which had now become a fixed and almost regular +occurrence every year, was apprehended, and another evil nearer home +started up unexpectedly. Exiles and slaves, to the number of two +thousand five hundred, seized the Capitol and citadel during the +night, under the command of Appius Herdonius, a Sabine. Those who +refused to join the conspiracy and take up arms with them were +immediately massacred in the citadel: others, during the disturbance, +fled in headlong panic down to the forum: the cries, "To arms!" and +"The enemy are in the city!" were heard alternately. The consuls +neither dared to arm the commons, nor to suffer them to remain +unarmed; uncertain what sudden calamity had assailed the city, whether +from without or within, whether arising from the hatred of the commons +or the treachery of the slaves: they tried to quiet the disturbances, +and while trying to do so they sometimes aroused them; for the +populace, panic-stricken and terrified, could not be directed by +authority. They gave out arms, however, but not indiscriminately; only +so that, as it was yet uncertain who the enemy were, there might be +a protection sufficiently reliable to meet all emergencies. The +remainder of the night they passed in posting guards in suitable +places throughout the city, anxious and uncertain who the enemy were, +and how great their number. Daylight subsequently disclosed the war +and its leader. Appius Herdonius summoned the slaves to liberty from +the Capitol, saying, that he had espoused the cause of all the most +unfortunate, in order to bring back to their country those who had +been exiled and driven out by wrong, and to remove the grievous yoke +from the slaves: that he had rather that were done under the authority +of the Roman people. If there were no hope in that quarter, he would +rouse the Volscians and Aequans, and would try even the most desperate +remedies. + +The whole affair now began to be clearer to the patricians and +consuls; besides the news, however, which was officially announced, +they dreaded lest this might be a scheme of the Veientines or Sabines; +and, further, as there were so many of the enemy in the city, lest +the Sabine and Etruscan troops might presently come up according to +a concerted plan, and their inveterate enemies, the Volscians and +Aequans should come, not to ravage their territories, as before, but +even to the gates of the city, as being already in part taken. Many +and various were their fears, the most prominent among which was their +dread of the slaves, lest each should harbour an enemy in his own +house, one whom it was neither sufficiently safe to trust, nor, by +distrusting, to pronounce unworthy of confidence, lest he might prove +a more deadly foe. And it scarcely seemed that the evil could be +resisted by harmony: no one had any fear of tribunes or commons, while +other troubles so predominated and threatened to swamp the state: that +fear seemed an evil of a mild nature, and one that always arose during +the cessation of other ills, and then appeared to be lulled to rest +by external alarm. Yet at the present time that, almost more than +anything else, weighed heavily on their sinking fortunes: for such +madness took possession of the tribunes, that contended that not war, +but an empty appearance of war, had taken possession of the Capitol, +to divert the people's minds from attending to the law: that these +friends and clients of the patricians would depart in deeper silence +than they had come, if they once perceived that, by the law being +passed, they had raised these tumults in vain. They then held a +meeting for passing the law, having called away the people from arms. +In the meantime, the consuls convened the senate, another dread +presenting itself by the action of the tribunes, greater than that +which the nightly foe had occasioned. + +When it was announced that the men were laying aside their arms, and +quitting their posts, Publius Valerius, while his colleague still +detained the senate, hastened from the senate-house, and went thence +into the meeting-place to the tribunes. "What is all this," said he, +"O tribunes? Are you determined to overthrow the commonwealth under +the guidance and auspices of Appius Herdonius? Has he been so +successful in corrupting you, he who, by his authority, has not even +influenced your slaves? When the enemy is over our heads, is it your +pleasure that we should give up our arms, and laws be proposed?" Then, +directing his words to the populace: "If, Quirites, no concern for +your city, or for yourselves, moves you, at least revere the gods +of your country, now made captive by the enemy. Jupiter, best +and greatest, Queen Juno, and Minerva, and the other gods and +goddesses,[25] are being besieged; a camp of slaves now holds +possession of the tutelary gods of the state. Does this seem to you +the behavior of a state in its senses? Such a crowd of enemies is not +only within the walls, but in the citadel, commanding the forum an +senate-house: in the meanwhile meetings are being held in the forum, +the senate is in the senate-house: just as when tranquility prevails, +the senator gives his opinion, the other Romans their votes. Does it +not behoove all patricians and plebeians, consuls, tribunes, gods, and +men of all classes, to bring aid with arms in their hands, to hurry +into the Capitol, to liberate and restore to peace that most august +residence of Jupiter, best and greatest? O Father Romulus! Do thou +inspire thy progeny with that determination of thine, by which thou +didst formerly recover from these same Sabines this citadel, when +captured by gold. Order them to pursue this same path, which thou, as +leader, and thy army, pursued. Lo! I as consul will be the first to +follow thee and thy footsteps, as far as I, a mortal, can follow a +god." Then, in concluding his speech, he said that he was ready to +take up arms, that he summoned every citizen of Rome to arms; if any +one should oppose, that he, heedless of the consular authority, the +tribunician power, and the devoting laws, would consider him as an +enemy, whoever and wheresoever he might be, in the Capitol, or in the +forum. Let the tribunes order arms to be taken up against Publius +Valerius the consul, since they forbade it against Appius Herdonius; +that he would dare to act in the case of the tribunes, as the founder +of his family [26] had dared to act in the case of the kings. It was +now clear that matters would come to violent extremities, and that a +quarrel among Romans would be exhibited to the enemy. The law however +could neither be carried, nor could the consul proceed to the Capitol. +Night put an end to the struggle that had been begun; the tribunes +yielded to the night, dreading the arms of the consuls.[27] When the +ringleaders of the disturbances had been removed, the patricians went +about among the commons, and, mingling in their meetings, spread +statements suited to the occasion: they advised them to take heed into +what danger they were bringing the commonwealth: that the contest +was not one between patricians and commons, but that patricians and +commons together, the fortress of the city, the temples of the gods, +the guardian gods of the state and of private families, were being +delivered up to the enemy. While these measures were being taken in +the forum for the purpose of appeasing the disturbances, the consuls +in the meantime had retired to visit the gates and the walls, fearing +that the Sabines or the Veientine enemy might bestir themselves. + +During the same night, messengers reached Tusculum with news of the +capture of the citadel, the seizure of the Capitol, and also of the +generally disturbed condition of the city. Lucius Mamilius was at that +time dictator at Tusculum; he, having immediately convoked the senate +and introduced the messengers, earnestly advised, that they should not +wait until ambassadors came from Rome, suing for assistance; that the +danger itself and importance of the crisis, the gods of allies, and +the good faith of treaties, demanded it; that the gods would never +afford them a like opportunity of obliging so powerful a state and so +near a neighbour. It was resolved that assistance should be sent the +young men were enrolled, and arms given them. On their way to Rome at +break of day, at a distance they exhibited the appearance of enemies. +The Æquans or Volscians were thought to be coming. Then, after the +groundless alarm was removed, they were admitted into the city and +descended in a body into the forum. There Publius Valerius, having +left his colleague with the guards of the gates, was now drawing up +his forces in order of battle. The great influence of the man produced +an effect on the people, when he declared that, when the Capitol was +recovered, and the city restored to peace, if they allowed themselves +to be convinced what hidden guile was contained in the law proposed by +the tribunes, he, mindful of his ancestors, mindful of his surname, +and remembering that the duty of protecting the people had been handed +down to him as hereditary by his ancestors, would offer no obstruction +to the meeting of the people. Following him, as their leader, in spite +of the fruitless opposition of the tribunes, they marched up the +ascent of the Capitoline Hill. The Tusculan troops also joined them. +Allies and citizens vied with each other as to which of them should +appropriate to themselves the honour of recovering the citadel. Each +leader encouraged his own men. Then the enemy began to be alarmed, and +placed no dependence on anything but their position. While they were +in this state of alarm, the Romans and allies advanced to attack them. +They had already burst into the porch of the temple, when Publius +Valerius was slain while cheering on the fight at the head of his men. +Publius Volumnius, a man of consular rank, saw him falling. Having +directed his men to cover the body, he himself rushed forward to +take the place and duty of the consul. Owing to their excitement and +impetuosity, this great misfortune passed unnoticed by the soldiers, +they conquered before they perceived that they were fighting without a +leader. Many of the exiles defiled the temple with their blood; many +were taken prisoners: Herdonius was slain. Thus the Capitol was +recovered. With respect to the prisoners, punishment was inflicted on +each according to his station, as he was a freeman or a slave. The +Tusculans received the thanks of the Romans: the Capitol was cleansed +and purified. The commons are stated to have thrown every man a +farthing into the consul's house, that he might be buried with more +splendid obsequies. + +Order being thus established, the tribunes then urged the patricians +to fulfill the Promise given by Publius Valerius; they pressed on +Claudius to free the shade of his colleague from breach of faith, and +to allow the matter of the law to proceed. The consul asserted that he +would not suffer the discussion of the law to proceed, until he had +appointed a colleague to assist him. These disputes lasted until the +time of the elections for the substitution of a consul. In the month +of December, by the most strenuous exertions of the patricians, Lucius +Quinctius Cincinnatus, Caeso's father, was elected consul, to enter +upon office without delay. The commons were dismayed at being about to +have for consul a man incensed against them, powerful by the support +of the patricians, by his own merit, and by reason of his three sons, +not one of whom was inferior to Caeso in greatness of spirit, while +they were his superiors in the exercise of prudence and moderation, +whenever occasion required. When he entered upon office, in his +frequent harangues from the tribunal, he was not more vehement in +restraining the commons than in reproving the senate, owing to the +listlessness of which body the tribunes of the commons, now become a +standing institution, exercised regal authority, by means of their +readiness of speech and prosecutions, not as if in a republic of the +Roman people, but as if in an ill-regulated household. That with his +son Caeso, valour, constancy, all the splendid qualifications of youth +in war and in peace, had been driven and exiled from the city of Rome: +that talkative and turbulent men, sowers of discord, twice and even +thrice re-elected tribunes by the vilest intrigues, lived in the +enjoyment of regal irresponsibility. "Does that Aulus Verginius," said +he, "deserve less punishment than Appius Herdonius, because he was not +in the Capitol? Considerably more, by Hercules, if any one will look +at the matter fairly. Herdonius, if nothing else, by avowing himself +an enemy, thereby as good as gave you notice to take up arms: this +man, by denying the existence of war, took arms out of your hands, and +exposed you defenceless to the attack of slaves and exiles. And did +you--I will speak with all due respect for Gaius Claudius and +Publius Valerius, now no more--did you decide to advance against the +Capitoline Hill before you expelled those enemies from the forum? I +feel ashamed in the sight of gods and men. When the enemy were in the +citadel, in the Capitol, when the leader of the exiles and slaves, +after profaning everything, took up his residence in the shrine of +Jupiter, best and greatest, arms were taken up at Tusculum sooner +than at Rome. It was a matter of doubt whether Lucius Mamilius, the +Tusculan leader, or Publius Valerius and Gaius Claudius, the consuls, +recovered the Roman citadel, and we, who formerly did not suffer the +Latins to touch arms, not even in their own defence, when they had the +enemy on their very frontiers, should have been taken and destroyed +now, had not the Latins taken up arms of their own accord. Tribunes, +is this bringing aid to the commons, to expose them in a defenceless +state to be butchered by the enemy? I suppose, if any one, even the +humblest individual of your commons--which portion you have as it were +broken off from the rest of the state, and created a country and a +commonwealth of your own--if any one of these were to bring you word +that his house was beset by an armed band of slaves, you would think +that assistance should be afforded him: was then Jupiter, best +and greatest, when hemmed in by the arms of exiles and of slaves, +deserving of no human aid? And do these persons claim to be considered +sacred and inviolable, to whom the gods themselves are neither sacred +nor inviolable? Well but, loaded as you are with crimes against both +gods and men, you proclaim that you will pass your law this year. +Verily then, on the day I was created consul, it was a disastrous act +of the state, much more so even than the day when Publius Valerius +the consul fell, if you shall pass it. Now, first of all," said he, +"Quirites, it is the intention of myself and of my colleague to march +the legions against the Volscians and the Aequans. I know not by what +fatality we find the gods more propitious when we are at war than in +peace. How great the danger from those states would have been, had +they known that the Capitol was besieged by exiles, it is better to +conjecture from what is past, than to learn by actual experience." + +The consul's harangue had a great effect on the commons: the +patricians, recovering their spirits, believed the state +re-established. The other consul, a more ardent partner than promoter +of a measure, readily allowing his colleague to take the lead in +measures of such importance, claimed to himself his share of the +consular duty in carrying these measures into execution. Then the +tribunes, mocking these declarations as empty, went on to ask how the +consuls were going to lead out an army, seeing that no one would allow +them to hold a levy? "But," replied Quinctius, "we have no need of a +levy, since, at the time Publius Valerius gave arms to the commons to +recover the Capitol, they all took an oath to him, that they would +assemble at the command of the consul, and would not depart without +his permission. We therefore publish an order that all of you, who +have sworn, attend to-morrow under arms at the Lake Regillus." The +tribunes then began to quibble, and wanted to absolve the people from +their obligation, asserting that Quinctius was a private person at the +time when they were bound by the oath. But that disregard of the gods, +which possesses the present generation, had not yet gained ground: +nor did every one accommodate oaths and laws to his own purposes, by +interpreting them as it suited him, but rather adapted his own conduct +to them. Wherefore the tribunes, as there was no hope of obstructing +the matter, attempted to delay the departure of the army the more +earnestly on this account, because a report had gone out, both that +the augurs had been ordered to attend at the Lake Regillius and that a +place was to be consecrated, where business might be transacted with +the people by auspices: and whatever had been passed at Rome by +tribunician violence, might be repealed there in the assembly.[28] +That all would order what the consuls desired: for that there was no +appeal at a greater distance than a mile [29] from the city: and that +the tribunes, if they should come there, would, like the rest of the +Quirites, be subjected to the consular authority. This alarmed them: +but the greatest anxiety which affected their minds was because +Quinctius frequently declared that he would not hold an election of +consuls. That the malady of the state was not of an ordinary nature, +so that it could be stopped by the ordinary remedies. That the +commonwealth required a dictator, so that whoever attempted to disturb +the condition of the state, might feel that from the dictatorship +there was no appeal. + +The senate was assembled in the Capitol. Thither the tribunes came +with the commons in a state of great consternation: the multitude, +with loud clamours, implored the protection, now of the consuls, +now of the patricians: nor could they move the consul from his +determination, until the tribunes promised that they would submit to +the authority of the senate. Then, on the consul's laying before them +the demands of the tribunes and commons, decrees of the senate were +passed: that neither should the tribunes propose the law during that +year, nor should the consuls lead out the army from the city--that, +for the future, the senate decided that it was against the interests +of the commonwealth that the same magistrates should be continued +and the same tribunes be reappointed. The consuls conformed to +the authority of the senate: the tribunes were reappointed, +notwithstanding the remonstrance of the consuls. The patricians also, +that they might not yield to the commons in any particular, themselves +proposed to re-elect Lucius Quinctius consul. No address of the consul +was delivered with greater warmth during the entire year. "Can I be +surprised," said he, "if your authority with the people is held in +contempt, O conscript fathers? It is you yourselves who are weakening +it. Forsooth, because the commons have violated a decree of the +senate, by reappointing their magistrates, you yourselves also wish +it to be violated, that you may not be outdone by the populace in +rashness; as if greater power in the state consisted in the possession +of greater inconstancy and liberty of action; for it is certainly more +inconstant and greater folly to render null and void one's own decrees +and resolutions, than those of others. Do you, O conscript fathers, +imitate the unthinking multitude; and do you, who should be an example +to others, prefer to transgress by the example of others, rather +than that others should act rightly by yours, provided only I do not +imitate the tribunes, nor allow myself to be declared consul, contrary +to the decree of the senate. But as for you, Gaius Claudius, I +recommend that you, as well as myself, restrain the Roman people from +this licentious spirit, and that you be persuaded of this, as far as I +am concerned, that I shall take it in such a spirit, that I shall not +consider that my attainment of office has been obstructed by you, but +that the glory of having declined the honour has been augmented, and +the odium, which would threaten me if it were continued, lessened." +Thereupon they issued this order jointly: That no one should support +the election of Lucius Quinctius as consul: if any one should do so, +that they would not allow the vote. + +The consuls elected were Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (for the third +time), and Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis. The census was taken during +that year; it was a matter of religious scruple that the lustrum +should be closed, on account of the seizure of the Capitol and the +death of the consul. In the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Lucius +Cornelius, disturbances woke out immediately at the beginning of +the year. The tribunes were urging on the commons. The Latins and +Hernicans brought word that a formidable war was threatening on the +part of the Volscians and Æquans; that the troops of the Volscians +were now in the neighbourhood of Antium. Great apprehension was also +entertained, that the colony itself would revolt: and with difficulty +the tribunes were prevailed upon to allow the war to be attended to +first. The consuls divided their respective spheres of action. Fabius +was commissioned to march the legions to Antium: to Cornelius was +assigned the duty of keeping guard at Rome, lest any portion of the +enemy's troops, as was the practice of the Aequans, should advance to +commit depredations. The Hernicans and Latins were ordered to supply +soldiers in accordance with the treaty; and of the army two thirds +consisted of allies, the remainder of Roman citizens. When the allies +arrived on the appointed day, the consul pitched his camp outside the +porta Capena.[30] Then, after the army had been reviewed, he set out +for Antium, and encamped not far from the town and fixed quarters +of the enemy. There, when the Volscians, not venturing to risk an +engagement, because the contingent from the Aequans had not yet +arrived, were making preparations to see how they might protect +themselves quietly within their ramparts, on the following day Fabius +drew up not one mixed army of allies and citizens, but three bodies +of the three states separately around the enemy's works. He himself +occupied the centre with the Roman legions. He ordered them to watch +for the signal for action, so that at the same time both the allies +might begin the action together, and retire together if he should give +orders to sound a retreat. He also posted the proper cavalry of each +division behind the front line. Having thus assailed the camp at three +different points, he surrounded it: and, pressing on from every side, +he dislodged the Volscians, who were unable to withstand his attack, +from the rampart. Having then crossed the fortifications, he drove out +from the camp the crowd who were panic-stricken and inclining to make +for one direction. Upon this the cavalry, who could not have easily +passed over the rampart, having stood by till then as mere spectators +of the fight, came up with them while flying in disorder over the +open plain, and enjoyed a share of the victory, by cutting down the +affrighted troops. Great was the slaughter of the fugitives, both +in the camp and outside the lines; but the booty was still greater, +because the enemy were scarcely able to carry off their arms with +them; and the entire army would have been destroyed, had not the woods +covered them in their flight. + +While these events were taking place at Antium, the Aequans, in the +meanwhile, sending forward the flower of their youth surprised the +citadel of Tusculum by night: and with the rest of their army sat down +at no great distance from the walls of Tusculutn, so as to divide the +forces of the enemy.[31] News of this being quickly brought to Rome, +and from Rome to the camp at Antium, affected the Romans no less than +if it had been announced that the Capitol was taken; so recent was +the service rendered by the Tusculans, and the very similarity of the +danger seemed to demand a return of the aid that had been afforded. +Fabius, giving up all thought of everything else, removed the booty +hastily from the camp to Antium: and, having left a small garrison +there, hurried on his army by forced marches to Tusculum. The soldiers +were allowed to take with them nothing but their arms, and whatever +baked provision was at hand. The consul Cornelius sent up provisions +from Rome. The war was carried on at Tusculum for several months. With +one part of his army the consul assailed the camp of the Aequans; +he had given part to the Tusculans to aid in the recovery of their +citadel. They could never have made their way up to it by force: at +length famine caused the enemy to withdraw from it. When matters +subsequently came to extremities, they were all sent under the yoke, +[32] by the Tusculans, unarmed and naked. While returning home in +ignominious flight, they were overtaken by the Roman consul at +Algidum, and cut to pieces to a man.[33] After this victory, having +marched back his army to Columen (so is the place named), he pitched +his camp there. The other consul also, as soon as the Roman walls +ceased to be in danger, now that the enemy had been defeated, set out +from Rome. Thus the consuls, having entered the territories of the +enemies on two different sides, in eager rivalry plundered the +territory of the Volscians on the one hand, and of the Aequans on the +other. I find it stated by several writers that the people of Antium +revolted during the same year. That Lucius Cornelius, the consul, +conducted that war and took the town; I would not venture to assert +it for certain, because no mention is made of the matter in the older +writers. + +This war being concluded, a tribunician war at home alarmed the +senate. The tribunes held that the detention of the army abroad was +due to a fraudulent motive: that that deception was intended to +prevent the passing of the law; that they, however, would none +the less go through with the matter they had undertaken. Publius +Lucretius, however, the prefect of the city, so far prevailed, that +the proceedings of the tribunes were postponed till the arrival of the +consuls. A new cause of disturbance had also arisen. The quæstors, +[34] Aulus Cornelius and Quintus Servilius, appointed a day of trial +for Marcus Volscius, because he had come forward as a manifestly false +witness against Caeso. For it was established by many proofs, that the +brother of Volscius, from the time he first fell ill, had not only +never been seen in public, but that he had not even left his bed after +he had been attacked by illness, and that he had died of a wasting +disease of several months' standing; and that at the time to which the +witness had referred the commission of the crime, Caeso had not +been seen at Rome: while those who had served in the army with him +positively stated that at that time he had regularly attended at his +post along with them without any leave of absence. Many, on their own +account, proposed to Volscius to refer the matter to the decision of +an arbitrator. As he did not venture to go to trial, all these points +coinciding rendered the condemnation of Volscius no less certain than +that of Caeso had been on the testimony of Volscius. The tribunes were +the cause of delay, who said that they would not suffer the quæstors +to hold the assembly concerning the accused, unless it were first held +concerning the law. Thus both matters were spun out till the arrival +of the consuls. When they entered the city in triumph with their +victorious army, because nothing was said about the law, many thought +that the tribunes were struck with dismay. But they in reality (for +it was now the close of the year), being eager to obtain a fourth +tribuneship, had turned away their efforts from the law to the +discussion of the elections; and when the consuls, with the object of +lessening their dignity, opposed the continuation of their tribuneship +with no less earnestness than if the law in question had been +proposed, the victory in the contest was on the side of the tribunes. + +In the same year peace was granted to the Aequans on their suing for +it. The census, begun in the preceding year, was completed: this is +said to have been the tenth lustrum that was completed from the date +of the foundation of the city. The number of citizens rated was one +hundred and seventeen thousand three hundred and nineteen. The consuls +obtained great glory this year both at home and in war, because they +established peace abroad, while at home, though the state was not in a +condition of absolute harmony, yet it was less harassed by dissensions +than at other times. + +Lucius Minucius and Gaius Nautius being next elected consuls took up +the two causes which remained undecided from the preceding year. As +before, the consuls obstructed the law, the tribunes the trial of +Volscius: but in the new quæstors there was greater power and greater +influence. With Marcus Valerius, son of Manius and grandson of Volesus +Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, was appointed +quaestor. Since Caeso could neither be restored to the Quinctian +family, nor to the state, though a most promising youth, did he, +justly, and as in duty bound, prosecute the false witness who had +deprived an innocent person of the power of pleading his cause. When +Verginius, more than any of the tribunes, busied himself about the +passing of the law, the space of two months was allowed the consuls to +examine into the law: on condition that, when they had satisfied the +people as to what secret designs were concealed under it, [35] they +should then allow them to give their votes. The granting of this +respite established tranquility in the city. The Aequans, however, did +not allow them long rest: in violation of the treaty which had been +made with the Romans the year before, they conferred the chief command +on Gracchus Cloelius. He was then by far the chief man among the +Aequans. Under the command of Gracchus they advanced with hostile +depredations into the district of Labici, from thence into that of +Tusculum, and, laden with booty, pitched their camp at Algidum. To +that camp came Quintus Fabius, Publius Volumnius, Aulus Postumius, +ambassadors from Rome, to complain of the wrongs committed, and to +demand restitution in accordance with the treaty. The general of the +Aequans commanded them to deliver to the oak the message they brought +from the Roman senate; that he in the meantime would attend to +other matters. An oak, a mighty tree, whose shade formed a cool +resting-place, overhung the general's tent. Then one of the +ambassadors, when departing, cried out: "Let both this consecrated oak +and all the gods hear that the treaty has been broken by you, and +both lend a favourable ear to our complaints now, and assist our arms +presently, when we shall avenge the rights of gods and men that have +been violated simultaneously." As soon as the ambassadors returned +to Rome, the senate ordered one of the consuls to lead his army into +Algidum against Gracchus, to the other they assigned as his sphere of +action the devastation of the country of the Aequans. The tribunes, +after their usual manner, attempted to obstruct the levy, and probably +would have eventually succeeded in doing so, had not a new and +additional cause of alarm suddenly arisen. + +A large force of Sabines, committing dreadful devastation advanced +almost up to the walls of the city. The fields were laid waste, the +city was smitten with terror. Then the commons cheerfully took up +arms; two large armies were raised, the remonstrance of the tribunes +being of no avail. Nautius led one against the Sabines, and, having +pitched his camp at Eretum,[36] by trifling incursions, mostly by +night, he so desolated the Sabine territory that, in comparison with +it, the Roman borders seemed almost undamaged by the war. Minucius +neither had the same good fortune nor displayed the same energy in +conducting his operations: for after he had pitched his camp at no +great distance from the enemy, without having experienced any reverse +of importance, he kept himself through fear within the camp. When the +enemy perceived this, their boldness increased, as usually happens, +from the fears of others; and, having attacked his camp by night, when +open force availed little, they drew lines of circumvallation around +it on the following day. Before these could close the means of egress, +by a rampart thrown up on all sides, five horsemen, despatched between +the enemies' posts, brought news to Rome, that the consul and his +army were besieged. Nothing could have happened so unexpected nor so +unlooked-for. Accordingly, the panic and the alarm were as great as +if the enemy were besieging the city, not the camp. They summoned +the consul Nautius; and when there seemed to be but insufficient +protection in him, and it was determined that a dictator should be +appointed to retrieve their shattered fortunes, Lucius Quinctius +Cincinnatus was appointed by universal consent. + +It is worth while for those persons who despise all things human in +comparison with riches, and who suppose that there is no room either +for exalted honour, or for virtue, except where riches abound in great +profusion, to listen to the following: Lucius Quinctius, the sole hope +of the empire of the Roman people, cultivated a farm of four acres on +the other side of the Tiber, which is called the Quinctian meadows, +exactly opposite the place where the dock-yard now is. There, whether +leaning on a stake while digging a trench, or while ploughing, at any +rate, as is certain, while engaged on some work in the fields, after +mutual exchange of salutations had taken place, being requested by +the ambassadors to put on his toga, and listen to the commands of the +senate (with wishes that it might turn out well both for him and the +commonwealth), he was astonished, and, asking whether all was well, +bade his wife Racilia immediately bring his toga from the hut. As soon +as he had put it on and come forward, after having first wiped off the +dust and sweat, the ambassadors congratulating him, united in saluting +him as dictator: they summoned him into the city, and told him what +terror prevailed in the army. A vessel was prepared for Quinctius by +order of the government, and his three sons, having come out to +meet him, received him on landing at the other side; then his other +relatives and his friends: then the greater part of the patricians. +Accompanied by this numerous attendance, the lictors going before him, +he was conducted to his residence.[37] There was a numerous concourse +of the commons also: but they by no means looked on Quinctius with the +same satisfaction, as they considered both that he was vested with +excessive authority, and was likely to prove still more arbitrary +by the exercise of that same authority. During that night, however, +nothing was done except that guards were posted in the city. + +On the next day the dictator, having entered the forum before +daylight, appointed as his master of the horse Lucius Tarquitius, a +man of patrician family, but who, though he had served his campaigns +on foot by reason of his scanty means, was yet considered by far the +most capable in military matters among the Roman youth. With his +master of the horse he entered the assembly, proclaimed a suspension +of public business, ordered the shops to be closed throughout the +city, and forbade any one to attend to any private affairs. Then he +commanded all who were of military age to attend under arms, in the +Campus Martius, before sunset, with dressed provisions for five days +and twelve stakes apiece: those whose age rendered them unfit for +active service were ordered to prepare victuals for the soldiers near +them, while the latter were getting their arms ready, and procuring +stakes. Accordingly, the young men ran in all directions to procure +the stakes; they took them whatever was nearest to each: no one +was prevented from doing so: all attended readily according to the +dictator's order. Then, the troops being drawn up, not more suitably +for a march than for an engagement, should occasion require it, the +dictator himself marched at the head of the legions, the master of the +horse at the head of his cavalry. In both bodies such exhortations +were delivered as circumstances required: that they should quicken +their pace; that there was need of despatch, that they might reach the +enemy by night; that the consul and the Roman army were besieged; that +they had now been shut up for three days; that it was uncertain what +each day or night might bring with it; that the issues of the most +important affairs often depended on a moment of time. The soldiers, to +please their leaders, exclaimed among themselves: "Standard-bearer, +hasten; follow, soldier." At midnight they reached Algidum: and, as +soon as they perceived that they were near the enemy, they halted. + +There the dictator, riding about, and having observe as far as could +be ascertained by night, what the extent of the camp was, and what +was its nature, commanded the tribunes of the soldiers to order the +baggage to be thrown into one place, and that the soldiers with their +arms and bundles of stakes should return to their ranks. His orders +were executed. Then, with the regularity which they had observed on +the march, he drew the entire army in a long column around the enemy's +camp, and directed that, when the signal was given, they should all +raise a shout, and that, on the shout being raised, each man should +throw up a trench before his post, and fix his palisade. The orders +being issued, the signal followed: the soldiers carried out their +instructions; the shout echoed around the enemy: it then passed beyond +the camp of the enemy, and reached that of the consul: in the one it +occasioned panic, in the other great joy. The Romans, observing +to each other with exultation that this was the shout of their +countrymen, and that aid was at hand, took the initiative, and from +their watch-guards and outposts dismayed the enemy. The consul +declared that there must be no delay; that by that shouts not only +their arrival was intimated, but that hostilities were already begun +by their friends; and that it would be a wonder if the enemy's camp +were not attacked on the farther side. He therefore ordered his men to +take up arms and follow him. The battle was begun during the night. +They gave notice by a shout to the dictator's legions that on that +side also the decisive moment had arrived. The AEquans were now +preparing to prevent the works from being drawn around them, when, +the battle being begun by the enemy from within, having turned their +attention from those employed on the fortifications to those who were +fighting on the inside, lest a sally should be made through the centre +of their camp, they left the night free for the completion of the +work, and continued the fight with the consul till daylight. At +daybreak they were now encompassed by the dictator's works, and were +scarcely able to maintain the fight against one army. Then their lines +were attacked by the army of Quinctius, which, immediately after +completing its work, returned to arms. Here a new engagement pressed +on them: the former one had in no wise slackened. Then, as the danger +that beset them on both sides pressed them hard, turning from fighting +to entreaties, they implored the dictator on the one hand, the consul +on the other, not to make the victory their total destruction, and to +suffer them to depart without arms. They were ordered by the consul to +apply to the dictator: he, incensed against them, added disgrace to +defeat. He gave orders that Gracchus Cloelius, their general, and the +other leaders should be brought to him in chains, and that the town of +Corbio should be evacuated; he added that he did not desire the +lives of the Æquans: that they were at liberty to depart; but that +a confession might at last be wrung from them that their nation was +defeated and subdued, they would have to pass under the yoke. The yoke +was formed of three spears, two fixed in the ground, and one tied +across between the upper ends of them. Under this yoke the dictator +sent the Æquans. + +The enemy's camp, which was full of all their belongings--for he +had sent them out of the camp half naked--having been taken, he +distributed all the booty among his own soldiers only: rebuking the +consul's army and the consul himself, he said: "Soldiers, you shall +not enjoy any portion of the spoil taken from that enemy to whom you +yourselves nearly became a spoil: and you, Lucius Minucius, until +you begin to assume a spirit worthy of a consul, shall command these +legions only as lieutenant." Minucius accordingly resigned his office +of consul, and remained with the army, as he had been commanded. But +so meekly obedient were the minds of men at that time to authority +combined with superior merit, that this army, remembering his +kindness, rather than their own disgrace, both voted a golden crown +of a pound weight to the dictator, and saluted him as their preserver +when he set out. The senate at Rome, convened by Quintus Fabius, +prefect of the city, ordered Quinctius to enter the city in triumph, +in the order of march in which he was coming. The leaders of the enemy +were led before his car: the military standards were carried before +him: his army followed laden with spoil. Banquets are said to have +been spread before the houses of all, and the soldiers, partaking of +the entertainment, followed the chariot with the triumphal hymn and +the usual jests,[38] after the manner of revellers. On that day the +freedom of the state was granted to Lucius Mamilius of Tusculum, amid +universal approbation. The dictator would have immediately laid down +his office had not the assembly for the trial of Marcus Volscius, the +false witness, detained him; the fear of the dictator prevented the +tribunes from obstructing it. Volscius was condemned and went into +exile at Lanuvium. Quinctius laid down his dictatorship on the +sixteenth day, having been invested with it for six months. During +those days the consul Nautius engaged the Sabines at Eretum with +distinguished success: besides the devastation of their lands, this +additional blow also befell the Sabines. Fabius was sent to Algidum as +successor to Minucius. Toward the end of the year the tribunes began +to agitate concerning the law; but, because two armies were away, the +patricians carried their point, that no proposal should be made before +the people. The commons succeeded in electing the same tribunes for +the fifth time. It is said that wolves seen in the Capitol were driven +away by dogs, and that on account of that prodigy the Capitol was +purified. Such were the transactions of that year. + +Quintus Minucius and Gaius Horatius Pulvillus were the next consuls. +At the beginning of this year, when there was peace abroad, the same +tribunes and the same law occasioned disturbances at home; and matters +would have proceeded further--so highly were men's minds inflamed-had +not news been brought, as if for the very purpose, that by a night +attack of the AEquans the garrison at Corbio had been cut off. The +consuls convened the senate: they were ordered to raise a hasty levy +and to lead it to Algidum. Then, the struggle about the law being +abandoned, a new dispute arose regarding the levy. The consular +authority was on the point of being overpowered by tribunician +influence, when an additional cause of alarm arose: that the Sabine +army had made a descent upon Roman territory to commit depredations +and from thence was advancing toward the city. This fear influenced +the tribunes to allow the soldiers to be enrolled, not without a +stipulation, however, that since they themselves had been foiled for +five years, and as the present college was but inadequate protection +for the commons, ten tribunes of the people should henceforward be +elected. Necessity extorted this concession from the patricians: they +only exacted this proviso, that they should not hereafter see the same +men tribunes. The election for the tribunes was held immediately, lest +that measure also, like others, might remain unfulfilled after the +war. In the thirty-sixth year after the first tribunes, ten were +elected, two from each class; and provision was made that they should +be elected in this manner for the future. The levy being then held, +Minucius marched out against the Sabines, but found no enemy. +Horatius, when the Æquans, having put the garrison at Corbio to the +sword, had taken Ortona also, fought a battle at Algidum, in which he +slew a great number of the enemy and drove them not only from Algidum, +but from Corbio and Ortona. He also razed Corbio to the ground for +having betrayed the garrison. + +Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius were next elected consuls. +Quiet prevailed at home and abroad. The people were distressed for +provisions on account of the excessive rains. A law was proposed to +make Mount Aventine public property. [39] The same tribunes of the +people were re-elected. In the following year, Titus Romilius and +Gaius Veturius being consuls, they strongly recommended the law in all +their harangues, declaring that they were ashamed that their number +had been increased to no purpose, it that matter should be neglected +during their two years in the same manner as it had been during the +whole preceding five. While they were most busily employed in these +matters, an alarming message came from Tusculum that the Æquans were +in Tusculan territory. The recent services of that state made them +ashamed of delaying relief. Both the consuls were sent with an army, +and found the enemy in their usual post in Algidum. There a battle was +fought: upward of seven thousand of the enemy were slain, the rest +were put to flight: immense booty was obtained. This the consuls sold +on account of the low state of the treasury. This proceeding, however, +brought them into odium with the army, and also afforded the tribunes +material for bringing a charge against the consuls before the commons. +Accordingly, as soon as they went out of office, in the consulship of +Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius, a day of trial was appointed for +Romilius by Gaius Calvius Cicero, tribune of the people; for Veturius, +by Lucius Alienus plebeian ædile. They were both condemned, to the +great mortification of the patricians: Romilius to pay ten thousand +asses, Veturius fifteen thousand. Nor did this misfortune of their +predecessors render the new consuls more timid. They said that on the +one hand they might be condemned, and that on the other the commons +and tribunes could not carry the law. Then, having abandoned the +law, which, by being repeatedly brought forward, had now lost +consideration, the tribunes, adopted a milder method of proceeding +with the patricians. Let them, said they, at length put an end to +disputes. If laws drawn up by plebeians displeased them, at least let +them allow legislators to be chosen in common, both from the commons +and from the patricians, who might propose measures advantageous to +both parties, and such as would tend to the establishment of liberty +on principles of equality. The patricians did not disdain to accept +the proposal. They claimed that no one should propose laws, except +he were a patrician. When they agreed with respect to the laws, and +differed only in regard to the proposer, ambassadors were sent to +Athens, Spurius Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius +Camerinus, who were ordered to copy out the celebrated laws of Solon, +and to make themselves acquainted with the institutions, customs, and +laws of the other states of Greece. + +The year was peaceful as regards foreign wars; the following one, when +Publius Curiatius and Sextus Quinctilius were consuls, was still more +quiet, owing to the tribunes observing uninterrupted silence, which +was occasioned in the first place by their waiting for the return of +the ambassadors who had gone to Athens, and for the account of the +foreign laws; in the next place, two grievous calamities arose at the +same time, famine and pestilence, destructive to man, and equally +so to cattle. The lands were left desolate; the city exhausted by +a constant succession of deaths. Many illustrious families were in +mourning. The Flamen Quirinalis, [40]Servius Cornelius, died; also the +augur, Gaius Horatius Pulvillus; in his place the augurs elected Gaius +Veturius, and that with all the more eagerness, because he had been +condemned by the commons. The consul Quinctilius died, and four +tribunes of the people. The year was rendered a melancholy one by +these manifold disasters; as far as foreign foes were concerned there +was perfect quiet. Then Gaius Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus +were elected consuls. Nor in that year was there any foreign war: but +disturbances arose at home. The ambassadors had now returned with the +Athenian laws; the tribunes therefore insisted the more urgently that +a beginning should at length be made of compiling the laws. It was +resolved that decemvirs should be elected to rule without appeal, and +that there should be no other magistrate during that year. There +was, for a considerable time, a dispute whether plebeians should +be admitted among them: at length the point was conceded to the +patricians, provided that the Icilian law regarding the Aventine and +the other devoting laws were not repealed. + +In the three hundred and second year after the foundation of Rome, the +form of government was a second time changed, the supreme power being +transferred from consuls to decemvirs as it had passed before from +kings to consuls. The change was less remarkable, because not of long +duration; for the joyous commencement of that government afterward ran +riot through excess. On that account the sooner did the arrangement +fall to the ground, and the practice was revived, that the name and +authority of consuls should be committed to two persons. The decemvirs +appointed were, Appius Claudius, Titus Genucius, Publius Sestius, +Lucius Veturius, Gaius Julius, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius, +Publius Curiatius, Titus Romilius, Spurius Postumius. On Claudius +and Genucius, because they had been consuls elect for that year, the +honour was conferred in compensation for the honour of the consulate; +and on Sestius, one of the consuls of the former year, because he +had proposed the plan itself to the senate against the will of his +colleague. Next to these were considered the three ambassadors who had +gone to Athens, so that the honour might serve at once as a recompense +for so distant an embassy, while at the same time they considered that +persons acquainted with the foreign laws would be of use in drawing up +the new code of justice. The others made up the number. They say that +also persons advanced in years were appointed by the last suffrages, +in order that they might oppose with less warmth the opinions of +others. The direction of the entire government rested with Appius +through the favour of the commons, and he had assumed a demeanour +so different that, from being a severe and harsh persecutor of the +people, he became suddenly a courter of the commons, and strove to +catch every breath of popular favour. They administered justice to the +people individually every tenth day. On that day the twelve fasces +attended the administrator of justice; one officer attended each of +his nine colleagues, and in the midst of the singular unanimity that +existed among themselves--a harmony that sometimes proves prejudicial +to private persons--the strictest equity was shown to others. In proof +of their moderation it will be enough to instance a single case as an +example. Though they had been appointed to govern without appeal, +yet, upon a dead body being found buried in the house of Publius +Sestius,[41] a man of patrician rank, and produced in the assembly, +Gaius Julius, a decemvir, appointed a day of trial for Sestius, in a +matter at once clear and heinous, and appeared before the people +as prosecutor of the man whose lawful judge he was if accused: and +relinquished his right,[42] so that he might add what had been taken +from the power of the office to the liberty of the people. + +While highest and lowest alike obtained from them this prompt +administration of justice, undefiled, as if from an oracle, at the +same time their attention was devoted to the framing of laws; and, the +ten tables being proposed amid the intense expectation of all, they +summoned the people to an assembly: and ordered them to go and read +the laws that were exhibited, [43] and Heaven grant it might prove +favourable, advantageous, and of happy result to the commonwealth, +themselves, and their children. That they had equalized the rights of +all, both the highest and the lowest, as far as could be devised by +the abilities of ten men: that the understanding and counsels of a +greater number had greater weight; let them turn over in their minds +each particular among themselves, discuss it in conversation, and +bring forward for public discussion whatever might be superfluous or +defective under each particular: that the Roman people should have +such laws only as the general consent might appear not so much to have +ratified when proposed as to have itself proposed. When they seemed +sufficiently corrected in accordance with public opinion regarding +each section of the laws as it was published, the laws of the ten +tables were passed at the assembly voting by centuries, which, even at +the present time, amid the immense heap of laws crowded one upon +the other, still remain the source of all public and private +jurisprudence. A rumour then spread that two tables were needed, on +the addition of which a digest, as it were, of the whole Roman law +could be completed. The desire for this gave rise, as the day of +election approached, to a request that decemvirs be appointed again. +The commons by this time, besides that they detested the name +of consuls no less than that of kings, did not even require the +tribunician aid, as the decemvirs in turn allowed an appeal. + +But when the assembly for the election of decemvirs was proclaimed for +the third market-day, the flame of ambition burst out so +powerfully that even the first men of the state began to canvass +individuals--fearing, I suppose, that the possession of such high +authority might become accessible to persons not sufficiently worthy +if the post were left unoccupied by themselves--humbly soliciting, +from those very commons with whom they had often contended, an honour +which had been opposed by them with all their might. The fact of their +dignity being now laid aside in a contest, at their time of life, and +after they had filled such high official positions, stimulated the +exertions of Appius Claudius. You would not have known whether to +reckon him among the decemvirs or the candidates; he resembled at +times more closely one canvassing for office than one invested with +it; he aspersed the nobles, extolled all the most unimportant and +insignificant candidates; surrounded by the Duellii and Icilii who had +been tribunes, he himself bustled about the forum, through their means +he recommended himself to the commons; until even his colleagues, who +till then had been devoted to him heart and soul, turned their eyes on +him, wondering what he was about. It was evident to them that there +was no sincerity in it; that such affability amid such pride would +surely prove not disinterested. That this excessive lowering of +himself, and condescending to familiarity with private citizens, was +characteristic not so much of one eager to retire from office, as of +one seeking the means of continuing that office. Not daring openly to +oppose his wishes, they set about mitigating his ardour by humouring +it. They by common consent conferred on him, as being the youngest, +the office of presiding at the elections. This was an artifice, to +prevent his appointing himself; which no one ever did, except the +tribunes of the people, and that with the very worst precedent. He, +however, declaring that, with the favour of fortune, he would preside +at the elections, seized upon what should have been an obstacle as a +lucky opportunity: and having succeeded by a coalition in keeping out +of office the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, and his +own uncle Gaius Claudius, a man most steadfast in the cause of the +nobility, and other citizens of equal eminence, he secured +the appointment as decemvirs of men by no means their equals +distinction--himself in the first instance, a proceeding which +honourable men disapproved of greatly, as no one believed that he +would have ventured to do it. With him were elected Marcus Cornelius +Maluginensis, Marcus Sergius, Lucius Minucius, Quintus Fabius +Vibulanus, Quintus Poetilius, Titus Antonius Merenda, Cæso Duilius, +Spurius Oppius Cornicen, Manius Rabuleius. + +This was the end of Appius's playing a part at variance with his +disposition. Henceforward he began to live according to his natural +character, and to mould to his own temper his new colleagues before +they entered upon office. They daily held meetings in private: then, +instructed in their unruly designs, which they concocted apart from +others, now no longer dissembling their arrogance, difficult of +access, captious to all who conversed with them, they protracted the +matter until the ides of May. The ides of May was at that time the +usual period for beginning office. Accordingly, at the attainment +of their magistracy, they rendered the first day of their office +remarkable by threats that inspired great terror. For, while the +preceding decemvirs had observed the rule, that only one should have +the fasces, and that this emblem of royalty should pass to all in +rotation, to each in his turn, lo! On a sudden they all came forth, +each with twelve fasces. One hundred and twenty lictors filled the +forum, and carried before them the axes tied up with the fasces,[44] +giving the explanation that it was of no consequence that the axe +should be taken away, since they had been appointed without appeal. +There appeared to be ten kings, and terrors were multiplied not only +among the humblest individuals, but even among the principal men +of the patricians, who thought that an excuse for the beginning of +bloodshed was being sought for: so that, if any one should have +uttered a word that hinted at liberty, either in the senate or in +a meeting of the people, the rods and axes would also instantly be +brought forward, for the purpose of intimidating the rest. For, +besides that there was no protection in the people, as the right of +appeal had been abolished, they had also by mutual consent prohibited +interference with each other: whereas the preceding decemvirs had +allowed the decisions pronounced by themselves to be amended by appeal +to any one of their colleagues, and had referred to the people some +points which seemed naturally to come within their own jurisdiction. +For a considerable time the terror seemed equally distributed among +all ranks; gradually it began to be directed entirely against the +commons. While they spared the patricians, arbitrary and cruel +measures were taken against the lower classes. As being persons with +whom interest usurped the force of justice, they all took account of +persons rather than of causes. They concerted their decisions at home, +and pronounced them in the forum. If any one appealed to a colleague, +he departed from the one to whom he had appealed in such a manner that +he regretted that he had not abided by the sentence of the former. An +irresponsible rumour had also gone abroad that they had conspired in +their tyranny not only for the present time, but that a clandestine +league had been concluded among them on oath, that they would not hold +the comitia, but by perpetuating the decemvirate would retain supreme +power now that it had once come into their possession. + +The plebeians then began narrowly to watch the countenances of the +patricians, and to strive to catch a glimpse of liberty from that +quarter, by apprehending slavery from which they had brought the +republic into its present condition. The leading members of the senate +detested the decemvirs, detested the commons; they neither approved of +what was going on, and they considered that what befell the latter was +not undeserved. They were unwilling to assist men who, by rushing too +eagerly toward liberty, had fallen into slavery: they even heaped +injuries on them, that, from disgust at the present state of things, +two consuls and the former constitution might at length be regretted. +By this time the greater part of the year had passed, and two tables +of laws had been added to the ten tables of the former year; and if +these laws also had been passed in the assembly of the centuries, +there would now have remained no reason why the republic should +require that form of government. They were anxiously waiting to see +how long it would be before the assembly would be proclaimed for the +election of consuls. The only thing that troubled the commons was +by what means they should re-establish the tribunician power, that +bulwark of their liberty, now so long discontinued, no mention in the +meantime being made of the elections. Further, the decemvirs, who +had at first exhibited themselves to the people surrounded by men +of tribunician rank, because that was deemed popular, now guarded +themselves by bands of young patricians: crowds of these beset the +tribunals. They harried the commons, and plundered their effects: when +fortune was on the side of the more powerful individual in regard to +whatever was coveted. And now they spared not even their persons: some +were beaten with rods, others had to submit to the axe; and, that such +cruelty might not go unrewarded, a grant of his effects followed the +punishment of the owner. Corrupted by such bribes, the young nobles +not only made no opposition to oppression, but openly avowed a +preference for their own selfish gratification rather than for the +liberty of all. + +The ides of May came round. Without any magistrates being elected +in place of those retiring, private persons [45]came forward as +decemvirs, without any abatement either in their determination to +enforce their authority, or any alteration in the insignia displayed +as outward signs of office. That indeed seemed undoubted regal +tyranny. Liberty was now deplored as lost forever: no champion of it +stood forth, or seemed likely to do so. And not only were the Romans +themselves sunk in despondency, but they began to be looked down upon +by the neighbouring states, who felt indignant that sovereign power +should be in the hands of a state where liberty did not exist. The +Sabines with a numerous body of men made an incursion into Roman +territory; and having committed extensive devastations, after they had +driven off with impunity booty of men and cattle, they recalled their +troops, which had been dispersed in different directions, to +Eretum, where they pitched their camp, grounding their hopes on the +dissensions at Rome, which they expected would prove an obstruction to +the levy. Not only the couriers, but also the flight of the country +people through the city inspired them with alarm. The decemvirs, left +in a dilemma between the hatred of the patricians and people, took +counsel what was to be done. Fortune, moreover, brought an additional +cause of alarm. The AEquans on the opposite side pitched their camp at +Algidum, and by raids from there ravaged Tusculan territory. News of +this was brought by ambassadors from Tusculum imploring assistance. +The panic thereby occasioned urged the decemvirs to consult the +senate, now that two wars at once threatened the city. They ordered +the patricians to be summoned into the senate-house, well aware what a +storm of resentment was ready to break upon them; they felt that all +would heap upon them the blame for the devastation of their territory, +and for the dangers that threatened; and that that would give them an +opportunity of endeavouring to abolish their office, if they did not +unite in resisting, and by enforcing their authority with severity on +a few who showed an intractable spirit repress the attempts of others. +When the voice of the crier was heard in the forum summoning the +senators into the senate-house to the presence of the decemvirs, this +proceeding, as altogether new, because they had long since given up +the custom of consulting the senate, attracted the attention of the +people, who, full of surprise, wanted to know what had happened, and +why, after so long an interval they were reviving a custom that had +fallen into abeyance: stating that they ought to thank the enemy and +the war, that any of the customs of a free state were complied with. +They looked around for a senator through all parts of the forum, and +seldom recognised one anywhere: they then directed their attention to +the senate-house, and to the solitude around the decemvirs, who both +themselves judged that their power was universally detested, while the +commons were of opinion that the senators refused to assemble because +the decemvirs, now reduced to the rank of private citizens, had no +authority to convene them: that a nucleus was now formed of those who +would help them to recover their liberty, if the commons would but +side with the senate, and if, as the patricians, when summoned, +refused to attend the senate, so also the commons would refuse to +enlist. Thus the commons grumbled. There was hardly one of the +patricians in the forum, and but very few in the city. In disgust at +the state of affairs, they had retired into the country, and busied +themselves only with their private affairs, giving up all thought of +state concerns, considering that they themselves were out of reach +of ill-treatment in proportion as they removed themselves from the +meeting and converse of their imperious masters. When those who had +been summoned did not assemble, state messengers were despatched to +their houses, both to levy the penalties,[46] and to make inquiries +whether they purposely refused to attend. They brought back word +that the senate was in the country. This was more pleasing to the +decemvirs, than if they brought word that they were present and +refused obedience to their commands. They commanded them all to be +summoned, and proclaimed a meeting of the senate for the following +day, which assembled in much greater numbers than they themselves had +expected. By this proceeding the commons considered that their liberty +was betrayed by the patricians, because the senate had obeyed those +persons, as if they had a right to compel them, who had already gone +out of office, and were mere private individuals, were it not for the +violence displayed by them. + +However, they showed more obedience in coming into the senate than +obsequiousness in the opinions expressed by them, as we have learned. +It is recorded that, after Appius Claudius laid the subject of debate +before the meeting, and before their opinions were asked in order, +Lucius Valerius Potitus excited a commotion, by demanding permission +to express his sentiments concerning the state, and--when the +decemvirs prevented him with threats [47]--by declaring that he would +present himself before the people. It is also recorded that Marcus +Horatius Barbatus entered the lists with no less boldness, calling +them "ten Tarquins," and reminding them that under the leadership of +the Valerii and Horatii the kings had been expelled. Nor was it the +mere name that men were then disgusted with, as being that by which it +was proper that Jupiter should be styled, as also Romulus, the founder +of the city, and the succeeding kings, and a name too which had been +retained also for the ceremonies of religion,[48] as a solemn one; +that it was the tyranny and arrogance of a king they then detested: +and if these were not to be tolerated in that same king or the son of +a king, who would tolerate it in so many private citizens? Let them +beware lest, by preventing persons from expressing their sentiments +freely in the senate, they obliged them to raise their voice outside +the senate-house. Nor could he see how it was less allowable for him, +a private citizen, to summon the people to an assembly, than for them +to convene the senate. They might try, whenever they pleased, how much +more determined a sense of wrong would be found to be, when it was a +question of vindicating one's own liberty, than ambition, when the +object was to preserve an unjust dominion. That they proposed the +question concerning the war with the Sabines, as if the Roman people +had any more important war on hand than that against those who, having +been elected for the purpose of framing laws, had left no law in the +state; who had abolished elections, annual magistrates, the regular +change of rulers, which was the only means of equalizing liberty; +who, though private citizens, still possessed the fasces and regal +dominion. That after the expulsion of the kings, patrician magistrates +had been appointed, and subsequently, after the secession of the +people, plebeian magistrates. What party was it, he asked, to which +they belonged? To the popular party? What had they ever done with the +concurrence of the people? To the party of the nobles? Who for now +nearly an entire year had not held a meeting of the senate, and then +held one in such a manner that they prevented the expression of +sentiments regarding the commonwealth? Let them not place too much +hope in the fears of others; the grievances which they were now +suffering appeared to men more oppressive than any they might +apprehend. + +While Horatius was exclaiming thus and the decemvirs could not +discover the proper bounds either of their anger or forbearance, nor +saw how the matter would end, Gaius Claudius, who was the uncle +of Appius the decemvir, delivered an address more in the style of +entreaty than reproach, beseeching him by the shade of his brother and +of his father, that he would hold in recollection the civil society +in which he had been born, rather than the confederacy nefariously +entered into with his colleagues, adding that he besought this much +more on Appius's own account, than for the sake of the commonwealth. +For the commonwealth would claim its rights in spite of them, if it +could not obtain them with their consent: that however, from a great +contest great animosities were generally aroused: it was the result of +the latter that he dreaded. Though the decemvirs forbade them to speak +on any subject save that which they had submitted to them, they felt +too much respect for Claudius to interrupt him He therefore concluded +the expression of his opinion by moving that it was their wish that no +decree of the senate should be passed. And all understood the matter +thus, that they were judged by Claudius to be private citizens;[49] +and many of those of consular standing expressed their assent in +words. Another measure, more severe in appearance, which ordered the +patricians to assemble to nominate an interrex, in reality had much +less force; for by this motion the mover gave expression to a decided +opinion that those persons were magistrates of some kind or other who +might hold a meeting of the senate, while he who recommended that +no decree of the senate should be passed, had thereby declared them +private citizens. When the cause of the decemvirs was now failing, +Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of Marcus Cornelius the +decemvir, having been purposely reserved from among those of consular +rank to close the debate, by affecting an anxiety about the war, +defended his brother and his colleagues by declaring that he wondered +by what fatality it had occurred, that those who had been candidates +for the decemvirate, either these or their friends, had above all +others attacked the decemvirs: or why, when no one had disputed for +so many months while the state was free from anxiety, whether legal +magistrates were at the head of affairs, they now at length sowed +the seeds of civil discord, when the enemy were nearly at the gates, +except it were that in a state of confusion they thought that their +object would be less clearly seen through. For the rest, it was unfair +that any one should prejudge a matter of such importance, while their +minds were occupied with a more momentous concern. It was his opinion +that, in regard to what Valerius and Horatius alleged--that the +decemvirs had gone out of office before the ides of May--the matter +should be discussed in the senate and left to them to decide, when the +wars which were now impending were over, and the commonwealth restored +to tranquility, and that Appius Claudius was even now preparing to +take notice that an account had to be rendered by him of the election +which he himself as decemvir held for electing decemvirs, whether they +were elected for one year, or until the laws, which were wanting, +were ratified. It was his opinion that all other matters should be +disregarded for the present, except the war; and if they thought that +the reports regarding it were propagated without foundation, and that +not only the messengers but also the ambassadors of the Tusculans had +stated what was false, he thought that scouts should be dispatched to +bring back more certain information; but if credit were given both to +the messengers and the ambassadors, that the levy should be held at +the very earliest opportunity; that the decemvirs should lead the +armies, whither each thought proper: and that no other matter should +take precedence. + +The junior patricians almost succeeded in getting this resolution +passed on a division. Accordingly, Valerius and Horatius, rising again +with greater vehemence, loudly demanded that it should be allowed them +to express their sentiments concerning the republic; that they would +address a meeting of the people, if owing to party efforts they were +not allowed to do so in the senate: for that private individuals, +whether in the senate or in a general assembly, could not prevent +them: nor would they yield to their imaginary fasces. Appius, now +considering that the crisis was already nigh at hand, when their +authority would be overpowered, unless the violence of these were +resisted with equal boldness, said, "It will be better for you not to +utter a word on any subject, except the subject of discussion"; +and against Valerius, when he refused to be silent for a private +individual, he commanded a lictor to proceed. When Valerius, from +the threshold of the senate-house, now craved the protection of the +citizens, Lucius Cornelius, embracing Appius, put an end to the +struggle, not in reality consulting the interest of him whose interest +he pretended to consult;[50] and after permission to say what he +pleased had been obtained for Valerius by means of Cornelius, when +this liberty did not extend beyond words, the decemvirs attained their +object. The men of consular rank also and senior members, from the +hatred of tribunician power still rankling in their bosoms, the +longing for which they considered was much more keenly felt by the +commons than for the consular power, almost preferred that the +decemvirs themselves should voluntarily resign their office at some +future period, than that the people should once more become prominent +through hatred against these. If the matter, quietly conducted, should +again return to the consuls without popular turbulence, that the +commons might be induced to forget their tribunes, either by the +intervention of wars or by the moderation of the consuls in exercising +their authority. + +A levy was proclaimed without objection on the part of the patricians; +the young men answered to their names, as the government was without +appeal. The legions having been enrolled, the decemvirs proceeded to +arrange among themselves who should set out to the war, who should +command the armies. The leading men among the decemvirs were Quintus +Fabius and Appius Claudius. The war at home appeared more serious than +abroad. The decemvirs considered the violence of Appius better +suited to suppress commotions in the city; that Fabius possessed +a disposition rather lacking in firmness in a good purpose than +energetic in a bad one. For this man, formerly distinguished at home +and abroad, had been so altered by his office of decemvir and the +influence of his colleagues that he chose rather to be like Appius +than like himself. To him the war among the Sabines was intrusted, +Manius Rabuleius and Quintus Paetilius being sent with him as +colleagues. Marcus Cornelius was sent to Algidum with Lucius Minucius, +Titus Antonius, Caeso Duillius, and Marcus Sergius: they appointed +Spurius Oppius to assist Appius Claudius in protecting the city, while +all the decemvirs were to enjoy equal authority. + +The republic was managed with no better success in war than at home. +In this the only fault in the generals was, that they had rendered +themselves objects of hatred to their fellow-citizens: in other +respects the entire blame lay with the soldiers, who, lest any +enterprise should be successfully conducted under the leadership and +auspices of the decemvirs, suffered themselves to be beaten, to their +own disgrace and that of their generals. Their armies were routed both +by the Sabines at Eretum, and by the Æquans in Algidum. Fleeing from +Eretum during the silence of the night, they fortified their camp +nearer the city, on an elevated position between Fidenae and +Crustumeria; nowhere encountering on equal ground the enemy who +pursued them, they protected themselves by the nature of the ground +and a rampart, not by valour or arms. Their conduct was more +disgraceful, and greater loss also was sustained in Algidum; their +camp too was lost, and the soldiers, stripped of all their arms, +munitions, and supplies, betook themselves to Tusculum, determined to +procure the means of subsistence from the good faith and compassion of +their hosts, and in these, notwithstanding their conduct, they were +not disappointed. Such alarming accounts were brought to Rome, that +the patricians, having now laid aside their hatred of the decemvirs, +passed an order that watches should be held in the city, and commanded +that all who were not hindered by reason of their age from carrying +arms, should mount guard on the walls, and form outposts before the +gates; they also voted that arms should be sent to Tusculum, besides +a re-enforcement; and that the decemvirs should come down from the +citadel of Tusculum and keep their troops encamped; that the other +camp should be removed from Fidenas into Sabine territory, and the +enemy, by their thus attacking them first, should be deterred from +entertaining any idea of assaulting the city. + +In addition to the reverses sustained at the hands of the enemy, the +decemvirs were guilty of two monstrous deeds, one abroad, and the +other in the city. They sent Lucius Siccius, who was quartered among +the Sabines, to take observations for the purpose of selecting a site +for a camp: he, availing himself of the unpopularity of the decemvirs, +was introducing, in his secret conversations with the common soldiers, +suggestions of a secession and the election of tribunes: the soldiers, +whom they had sent to accompany him in that expedition, were +commissioned to attack him in a convenient place and slay him. They +did not kill him with impunity; several of the assassins fell around +him, as he offered resistance, since, possessing great personal +strength and displaying courage equal to that strength, he defended +himself against them, although surrounded. The rest brought news into +the camp that Siccius, while fighting bravely, had fallen into an +ambush, and that some soldiers had been lost with him. At first the +account was believed; afterward a party of men, who went by permission +of the decemvirs to bury those who had fallen, when they observed that +none of the bodies there were stripped, and that Siccius lay in the +midst fully armed, and that all the bodies were turned toward him, +while there was neither the body of any of the enemy, nor any traces +of their departure, brought back his body, saying that he had +assuredly been slain by his own men. The camp was now filled with +indignation, and it was resolved that Siccius should be forthwith +brought to Rome, had not the decemvirs hastened to bury him with +military honours at the public expense. He was buried amid the great +grief of the soldiery, and with the worst possible infamy of the +decemvirs among the common people. + +Another monstrous deed followed in the city, originating in lust, and +attended by results not less tragical than that deed which had brought +about the expulsion of the Tarquins from the city and the throne +through the violation and death of Lucretia: so that the decemvirs not +only came to the same end as the kings, but the reason also of their +losing their power was the same. Appius Claudius was seized with a +criminal passion for violating the person of a young woman of plebeian +rank. Lucius Verginius, the girl's father, held an honourable +rank among the centurions at Algidum, a man who was a pattern of +uprightness both at home and in the service. His wife and children +were brought up in the same manner. He had betrothed his daughter to +Lucius Icilius, who had been tribune, a man of spirit and of approved +zeal in the interest of the people. Appius, burning with desire, +attempted to seduce by bribes and promises this young woman, now grown +up, and of distinguished beauty; and when he perceived that all the +avenues of his lust were barred by modesty, he turned his thoughts to +cruel and tyrannical violence. Considering that, as the girl's father +was absent, there was an opportunity for committing the wrong; he +instructed a dependent of his, Marcus Claudius, to claim the girl as +his slave, and not to yield to those who demanded her enjoyment of +liberty pending judgment. The tool of the decemvir's lust laid hands +on the girl as she was coming into the forum--for there the elementary +schools were held in booths--calling her the daughter of his slave and +a slave herself, and commanded her to follow him, declaring that he +would drag her off by force if she demurred. The girl being struck +dumb with terror, a crowd collected at the cries of her nurse, who +besought the protection of the citizens. The popular names of her +father, Verginius, and of her betrothed, Icilius, were in every one's +mouth. Esteem for them gained the good-will of their acquaintances, +the heinousness of the proceeding, that of the crowd. She was now +safe from violence, forasmuch as the claimant said that there was no +occasion for rousing the mob; that he was proceeding by law, not by +force. He summoned the girl into court. Her supporters advising her +to follow him, they reached the tribunal of Appius. The claimant +rehearsed the farce well known to the judge, as being in presence of +the actual author of the plot, that the girl, born in his house, and +clandestinely transferred from thence to the house of Verginius, had +been fathered on the latter: that what he stated was established +by certain evidence, and that he would prove it, even if Verginius +himself, who would be the principal sufferer, were judge: that +meanwhile it was only fair the servant should accompany her master. +The supporters of Verginia, after they had urged that Verginius was +absent on business of the state, that he would be present in two days +if word were sent to him, and that it was unfair that in his absence +he should run any risk regarding his children, demanded that Appius +should adjourn the whole matter till the arrival of the father; that +he should allow the claim for her liberty pending judgment according +to the law passed by himself, and not allow a maiden of ripe age to +encounter the risk of her reputation before that of her liberty. + +Appius prefaced his decision by observing that the very same law, +which the friends of Verginius put forward as the plea of their +demand, showed how strongly he himself was in favour of liberty: that +liberty, however, would find secure protection in the law on this +condition only, that it varied neither with respect to cases or +persons. For with respect to those individuals who were claimed as +free, that point of law was good, because any citizen could proceed by +law in such a matter: but in the case of her who was in the hands of +her father, there was no other person in whose favour her master need +relinquish his right of possession.[51] That it was his decision, +therefore, that her father should be sent for: that, in the meantime, +the claimant should not be deprived of the right, which allowed him +to carry off the girl with him, at the same time promising that she +should be produced on the arrival of him who was called her father. +When there were many who murmured against the injustice of this +decision rather than any one individual who ventured to protest +against it, the girl's great-uncle, Publius Numitorius, and her +betrothed, Icilius, appeared on the scene: and, way being made for +them through the crowd, the multitude thinking that Appius could be +most effectually resisted by the intervention of Icilius, the lictor +declared that he had decided the matter, and attempted to remove +Icilius, when he began to raise his voice. Such a monstrous injustice +would have fired even a cool temper. "By the sword, Appius," said he, +"must I be removed hence, that you may secure silence about that which +you wish to be concealed. This young woman I am about to marry, to +have and to hold as my lawful wife. Wherefore call together all the +lictors of your colleagues also; order the rods and axes to be got +ready: the betrothed wife of Icilius shall not pass the night outside +her father's house. No: though you have taken from us the aid of our +tribunes, and the power of appeal to the commons of Rome, the two +bulwarks for the maintenance of our liberty, absolute authority has +not therefore been given to your lust over our wives and children. +Vent your fury on our backs and necks; let chastity at least be +secure. If violence shall be offered to her, I shall implore the +protection of the citizens here present on behalf of my betrothed, +Verginius that of the soldiers on behalf of his only daughter, all of +us the protection of gods and men, nor shall you carry that sentence +into effect without our blood. I demand of you, Appius, consider again +and again to what lengths you are proceeding. Verginius, when he +comes, will see to it, what conduct he is to pursue with respect to +his daughter: only let him be assured of this, that if he yields to +the claims of this man, he will have to look out for another match for +his daughter. As for my part, in vindicating the liberty of my spouse, +life shall leave me sooner than honour." + +The multitude was now roused, and a contest seemed threatening. The +lictors had taken their stand around Icilius; they did not, however, +proceed beyond threats, while Appius said that it was not Verginia who +was being defended by Icilius, but that, being a restless man, and +even now breathing the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an +opportunity for creating a disturbance. That he would not afford him +the chance of doing so on that day; but in order that he might now +know that the concession had been made not to his petulance, but to +the absent Verginius, to the name of father and to liberty, that he +would not decide the case on that day, nor introduce a decree: that he +would request Marcus Claudius to forego somewhat of his right, and to +suffer the girl to be bailed till the next day. However, unless the +father attended on the following day, he gave notice to Icilius and to +men like Icilius, that, as the framer of it, he would maintain his own +law, as a decemvir, his firmness: that he would certainly not assemble +the lictors of his colleagues to put down the promoters of sedition; +that he would be content with his own. When the time of this act +of injustice had been deferred, and the friends of the maiden had +retired, it was first of all determined that the brother of Icilius, +and the son of Numitorius, both active young men, should proceed +thence straight to the city gate, and that Verginius should be +summoned from the camp with all possible haste: that the safety of the +girl depended on his being present next day at the proper time, to +protect her from wrong. They proceeded according to directions, and +galloping at full speed, carried the news to her father. When the +claimant of the maiden was pressing Icilius to lay claim to her, and +give bail for her appearance, and Icilius said that that was the very +thing that was being done, purposely wasting the time, until the +messengers sent to the camp should finish their journey, the multitude +raised their hands on all sides, and every one showed himself ready +to go surety for Icilius. And he, with his eyes full of tears, said: +"This is a great favour; to-morrow I will avail myself of your +assistance: at present I have sufficient sureties." Thus Verginia was +bailed on the security of her relations. Appius, having delayed a +short time, that he might not appear to have sat on account of that +case alone, when no one made application to him, all other concerns +being set aside owing to the interest displayed in this one case, +betook himself home, and wrote to his colleague in the camp, not +to grant leave of absence to Verginius, and even to keep him in +confinement. This wicked scheme was too late, as it deserved: for +Verginius, having already obtained his leave had set out at the first +watch, while the letter regarding his detention was delivered on the +following morning without effect. + +But in the city, at daybreak, when the citizens were standing in the +forum on the tiptoe of expectation, Verginius, clad in mourning, +conducted his daughter, also shabbily attired, attended by some +matrons, into the forum, with a considerable body of supporters. He +there began to go around and solicit people: and not only entreated +their aid given out of kindness, but demanded it as a right: saying +that he stood daily in the field of battle in defence of their wives +and children, nor was there any other man, whose brave and intrepid +deeds in war could be recorded in greater numbers. What availed it, +if, while the city was secure from dangers, their children had to +endure these calamities, which were the worst that could be dreaded if +it were taken? Uttering these words just like one delivering a public +harangue, he solicited the people individually. Similar arguments were +put forward by Icilius: the attendant throng of women produced more +effect by their silent tears than any words. With a mind stubbornly +proof against all this--such an attack of frenzy, rather than of love, +had perverted his mind--Appius ascended the tribunal, and when the +claimant went on to complain briefly, that justice had not been +administered to him on the preceding day through party influence, +before either he could go through with his claim, or an opportunity of +reply was afforded to Verginius, Appius interrupted him. The preamble +with which he prefaced his decision, ancient authors may have handed +down perhaps with some degree of truth; but since I nowhere find any +that is probable in the case of so scandalous a decision, I think it +best to state the bare fact, which is generally admitted, that he +passed a sentence consigning her to slavery. At first a feeling of +bewilderment astounded all, caused by amazement at so heinous a +proceeding: then for some time silence prevailed. Then, when Marcus +Claudius proceeded to seize the maiden, while the matrons stood +around, and was met by the piteous lamentations of the women, +Verginius, menacingly stretching forth his hands toward Appius, said: +"To Icilius, and not to you, Appius, have I betrothed my daughter, and +for matrimony, not for prostitution, have I brought her up. Would +you have men gratify their lust promiscuously, like cattle and wild +beasts? Whether these persons will endure such things, I know not; I +do not think that those will do so who have arms in their hands." +When the claimant of the girl was repulsed by the crowd of women and +supporters who were standing around her, silence was proclaimed by the +crier. + +The decemvir, as if he had lost his reason owing to his passion, +stated that not only from Icilius's abusive harangue of the day +before, and the violence of Verginius, of which he could produce the +entire Roman people as witnesses, but from authentic information +also he had ascertained that secret meetings were held in the city +throughout the night with the object of stirring up sedition: that +he, accordingly, being aware of that danger, had come down with armed +soldiers, not to molest any peaceable person, but in order to punish, +as the majesty of the government demanded, those who disturbed the +tranquility of the state. "It will, therefore," said he, "be better to +remain quiet: go, lictor, disperse the crowd, and clear the way for +the master to lay hold of his slave." After he had thundered out these +words, full of wrath, the multitude of their own accord dispersed, and +the girl stood deserted, a sacrifice to injustice. Then Verginius, +when he saw no aid anywhere, said: "I beg you, Appius, first pardon a +father's grief, if I have attacked you too harshly: in the next place, +suffer me to ask the nurse here in presence of the maiden, what all +this means, that, if I have been falsely called her father, I may +depart hence with mind more tranquil." Permission having been granted, +he drew the girl and the nurse aside to the booths near the chapel +of Cloacina,[52] which now go by the name of the New Booths:[53] and +there, snatching a knife from a butcher, "In this, the only one way I +can, my daughter," said he, "do I secure to you your liberty." He +then plunged it into the girl's breast, and looking back toward the +tribunal, said "With this blood I devote thee,[54] Appius, and thy +head!" Appius, aroused by the cry raised at so dreadful a deed, +ordered Verginius to be seized. He, armed with the knife, cleared the +way whithersoever he went, until, protected by the crowd of persons +attending him, he reached the gate. Icilius and Numitorius took up the +lifeless body and showed it to the people; they deplored the villainy +of Appius, the fatal beauty of the maiden, and the cruel lot of the +father.[55] The matrons, following, cried out: Was this the condition +of rearing children? Were these the rewards of chastity? And other +things which female grief on such occasions suggests, when their +complaints are so much the more affecting, in proportion as their +grief is more intense from their want of self-control. The men, and +more especially Icilius, spoke of nothing but the tribunician power, +and the right of appeal to the people which had been taken from them, +and gave vent to their indignation in regard to the condition of +public affairs. + +The multitude was excited partly by the heinousness of the misdeed, +partly by the hope of recovering their liberty on a favourable +opportunity. Appius first ordered Icilius to be summoned before +him, then, when he refused to come, to be seized: finally, when the +officers were not allowed an opportunity of approaching him, he +himself, proceeding through the crowd with a body of young patricians, +ordered him to be led away to prison. Now not only the multitude, but +Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, the leaders of the multitude, +stood around Icilius and, having repulsed the lictor, declared, that, +if Appius should proceed according to law, they would protect Icilius +from one who was but a private citizen; if he should attempt to employ +force, that even in that case they would be no unequal match for him. +Hence arose a violent quarrel. The decemvir's lictor attacked Valerius +and Horatius: the fasces were broken by the people. Appius ascended +the tribunal; Horatius and Valerius followed him. They were +attentively listened to by the assembly: the voice of the decemvir was +drowned with clamour. Now Valerius, as if he possessed the authority +to do so, was ordering the lictors to depart from one who was but a +private citizen, when Appius, whose spirits were now broken, alarmed +for his life, betook himself into a house in the vicinity of the +forum, unobserved by his enemies, with his head covered up. Spurius +Oppius, in order to assist his colleague, rushed into the forum by the +opposite side: he saw their authority overpowered by force. Distracted +then by various counsels and by listening to several advisers from +every side, he had become hopelessly confused: eventually he ordered +the senate to be convened. Because the official acts of the decemvirs +seemed displeasing to the greater portion of the patricians, this +step quieted the people with the hope that the government would be +abolished through the senate. The senate was of opinion that the +commons should not be stirred up, and that much more effectual +measures should be taken lest the arrival of Verginius should cause +any commotion in the army. + +Accordingly, some of the junior patricians, being sent to the camp +which was at that time on Mount Vecilius, announced to the decemvirs +that they should do their utmost to keep the soldiers from mutinying. +There Verginius occasioned greater commotion than he had left behind +him in the city. For besides that he was seen coming with a body +of nearly four hundred men, who, enraged in consequence of the +disgraceful nature of the occurrence, had accompanied him from the +city, the unsheathed knife, and his being himself besmeared with +blood, attracted to him the attention of the entire camp; and the +gowns,[56] seen in many parts of the camp had caused the number of +people from the city to appear much greater than it really was. When +they asked him what was the matter, in consequence of his weeping, for +a long time he did not utter a word. At length, as soon as the crowd +of those running together became quiet after the disturbance, and +silence ensued, he related everything in order as it had occurred. + +Then extending his hands toward heaven, addressing his +fellow-soldiers, he begged of them, not to impute to him that which +was the crime of Appius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer of +his child. To him the life of his daughter was dearer than his own, if +she had been allowed to live in freedom and chastity. When he beheld +her dragged to prostitution as if she were a slave, thinking it better +that his child should be lost by death rather than by dishonour, +through compassion for her he had apparently fallen into cruelty. Nor +would he have survived his daughter had he not entertained the hope of +avenging her death by the aid of his fellow-soldiers. For they too had +daughters, sisters, and wives; nor was the lust of Appius Claudius +extinguished with his daughter; but in proportion as it escaped with +greater impunity, so much the more unbridled would it be. That by the +calamity of another a warning was given to them to guard against a +similar injury. As far as he was concerned, his wife had been taken +from him by destiny; his daughter, because she could no longer have +lived as a chaste woman, had met with an unfortunate but honourable +death; that there was now no longer in his family an opportunity for +the lust of Appius; that from any other violence of his he would +defend his person with the same spirit with which he had vindicated +that of his daughter: that others should take care for themselves and +their children. While he uttered these words in a loud voice, the +multitude responded with a shout that they would not be backward, +either to avenge his wrongs or to defend their own liberty. And the +civilians mixing with the crowd of soldiers, by uttering the same +complaints, and by showing how much more shocking these things must +have appeared when seen than when merely heard of, and also by telling +them that the disturbance at Rome was now almost over--and others +having subsequently arrived who asserted that Appius, having with +difficulty escaped with life, had gone into exile--all these +individuals so far influenced them that there was a general cry to +arms, and having pulled up the standards, they set out for Rome. The +decemvirs, being alarmed at the same time both by what they now saw, +as well as by what they had heard had taken place at Rome, ran about +to different parts of the camp to quell the commotion. While they +proceeded with mildness no answer was returned to them: if any of them +attempted to exert authority, the soldiers replied that they were men +and were armed. They proceeded in a body to the city and occupied the +Aventine, encouraging the commons, as each person met them, recover +their liberty, and elect tribunes of the people; no other expression +of violence was heard. Spurius Oppius held a meeting of the senate; +it was resolved that no harsh measures should be adopted, inasmuch as +occasion for sedition had been given by themselves.[57] Three men of +consular rank, Spurius Tarpeius, Gaius Julius, Publius Sulpicius, were +sent as ambassadors, to inquire, in the name of the senate, by whose +order they had deserted the camp? Or what they meant by having +occupied the Aventine in arms, and, turning away their arms from the +enemy, having seized their own country? They were at no loss for an +answer: but they wanted some one to give the answer, there being as +yet no certain leader, and individuals were not bold enough to expose +themselves to the invidious office. The multitude only cried out with +one accord, that they should send Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius +to them, saying that they would give their answer to them. + +The ambassadors being dismissed, Verginius reminded the soldiers that +a little while before they had been embarrassed in a matter of no very +great difficulty, because the multitude was without a head; and that +the answer given, though not inexpedient, was the result rather of an +accidental agreement than of a concerted plan. His opinion was, that +ten persons should be elected to preside over the management of state +affairs, and that they should be called tribunes of the soldiers, a +title suited to their military dignity. When that honour was offered +to himself in the first instance, he replied, "Reserve for an occasion +more favourable to both of us your kind recognition of me. The fact of +my daughter being unavenged, does not allow any office to be agreeable +to me, nor, in the present disturbed condition of the state, is it +advantageous that those should be at your head who are most exposed to +party animosity. If I am of any use, the benefit to be gained from my +services will be just as great while I am a private individual." They +accordingly elected military tribunes ten in number. + +Meanwhile the army among the Sabines was not inactive. There also, at +the instance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession from the decemvirs +took place, men's minds being no less moved when they recalled to mind +the murder of Siccius, than when they were fired with rage at the +recent account of the disgraceful attempt made on the maiden to +gratify lust. When Icilius heard that tribunes of the soldiers had +been elected on the Aventine, lest the election assembly in the city +should follow the precedent of the military assembly, by electing the +same persons tribunes of the commons, being well versed in popular +intrigues and having an eye to that office himself, he also took care, +before they proceeded to the city, that the same number should be +elected by his own party with equal power. They entered the city by +the Colline gate under their standards, and proceeded in a body to the +Aventine through the midst of the city. There, joining the other army, +they commissioned the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to select two +out of their number to preside over state affairs. They elected Marcus +Oppius and Sextus Manilius. The patricians, alarmed for the general +safety, though there was a meeting of the senate every day, wasted the +time in wrangling more frequently than in deliberation. The murder of +Siccius, the lust of Appius, and the disgraces incurred in war were +urged as charges against the decemvirs. It was resolved that Valerius +and Horatius should proceed to the Aventine. They refused to go on any +other condition than that the decemvirs should lay down the badges of +that office, which they had resigned at the end of the previous year. +The decemvirs, complaining that they were now being degraded, declared +that they would not resign their office until those laws, for the sake +of which they had been appointed, were passed. + +The people being informed by Marcus Duillius, who had been tribune of +the people, that by reason of their continual contentions no business +was transacted, passed from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, as +Duillius asserted that no concern for business would enter the minds +of the patricians, until they saw the city deserted: that the Sacred +Mount would remind them of the people's firmness: that they would then +know that matters could not be brought back to harmony without the +restoration of the tribunician power. Having set out along the +Nomentan way, which was then called the Ficulean,[58] they pitched +their camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the moderation of their +fathers by committing no violence. The commons followed the army, +no one whose age would permit him declining to go. Their wives and +children attended them, piteously asking to whom they were leaving +them, in a city where neither chastity nor liberty were respected. +When the unusual solitude had created everywhere at Rome a feeling +of desolation; when there was no one in the forum but a few old men: +when, after the patricians had been summoned into the senate, the +forum appeared deserted, by this time more besides Horatius and +Valerius began to exclaim, "What will you now wait for, conscript +fathers? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their obstinacy, will +you suffer all things to go to wreck and ruin? What power is that of +yours, decemvirs, which you embrace and hold so firmly? Do you mean to +administer justice to walls and houses? Are you not ashamed that an +almost greater number of your lictors is to be seen in the forum than +of the other citizens? What are you going to do, in case the enemy +should approach the city? What, if the commons should come presently +in arms, in case we show ourselves little affected by their secession? +Do you mean to end your power by the fall of the city? Well, then, +either we must not have the commons, or they must have their tribunes. +We shall sooner be able to dispense with our patrician magistrates, +than they with their plebeian. That power, when new and untried, +they wrested from our fathers; much less will they now, when once +captivated by its charm, endure the loss of: more especially since we +do not behave with such moderation in the exercise of our power that +they are in no need of the aid of the tribunes." When these arguments +were thrown out from every quarter, the decemvirs, overpowered by the +united opinions of all, declared that, since such seemed to be the +feeling, they would submit to the authority of the patricians. All +they asked for themselves was that they might be protected from +popular odium; they warned the senate, that they should not, by +shedding their blood, habituate the people to inflict punishment on +the patricians. + +Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to bring back the people +on such terms as might seem fit, and to adjust all differences, were +directed to make provision also to protect the decemvirs from the +resentment and violence of the multitude. They set forth and were +received into the camp amid the great joy of the people, as their +undoubted liberators, both at the beginning of the disturbance and +at the termination of the matter. In consideration of these things, +thanks were returned to them on their arrival. Icilius delivered +a speech in the name of the people. When the terms came to be +considered, on the ambassadors inquiring what the demands of the +people were, he also, having already concerted the plan before the +arrival of the ambassadors, made such demands, that it became evident +that more hope was placed in the justice of their case than in arms. +For they demanded the restoration of the tribunician office and the +right of appeal, which, before the appointment of decemvirs, had been +the supports of the people, and that it should be without detriment +to any one to have instigated the soldiers or the commons to seek to +recover their liberty by a secession. Concerning the punishment only +of the decemvirs was their demand immoderate: for they thought it but +just that they should be delivered up to them, and threatened to burn +them alive. The ambassadors replied: "Your demands which have been +the result of deliberation are so reasonable, that they should be +voluntarily offered to you: for you demand therein safeguards for +your liberty, not a means of arbitrary power to assail others. Your +resentment we must rather pardon than indulge, seeing that from your +hatred of cruelty you rush into cruelty, and almost before you are +free yourselves, already wish to lord it over your opponents. Shall +our state never enjoy rest from punishments, inflicted either by the +patricians on the Roman commons, or by the commons on the patricians? +You need a shield rather than a sword. He is sufficiently and +abundantly humbled who lives in the state on an equal footing with his +fellow-citizens, neither inflicting nor suffering injury. Should you, +however, at any time wish to render yourselves formidable, when, after +you have recovered your magistrates and laws, decisions on our +lives and fortunes shall be in your hands, then you shall determine +according to the merits of each case: for the present it is sufficient +that your liberty be recovered." + +All assenting that they should act just as they thought proper, the +ambassadors assured them that they would speedily return, having +brought everything to a satisfactory termination. When they had gone +and laid before the patricians the message of the commons--while the +other decemvirs, since, contrary to their own expectation, no mention +was made of their punishment--raised no objection, Appius, being of a +truculent disposition and the chief object of detestation, measuring +the rancour of others toward him by his own toward them, said: "I am +not ignorant of the fate which threatens me. I see that the contest +against us is only deferred until our arms are delivered up to our +adversaries. Blood must be offered up to popular rage. I do not even +hesitate to resign my decemvirate." A decree of the senate was then +passed: that the decemvirs should as soon as possible resign their +office; that Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should hold an election of +plebeian tribunes, and that the secession of the soldiers and commons +should not be detrimental to any one. These decrees of the senate +being completed, and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs came forth +into the assembly, and resigned their office, to the great joy of all. +News of this was carried to the commons. All those who remained in the +city escorted the ambassadors. This crowd was met by another joyous +body from the camp; they congratulated each other on the restoration +of liberty and concord to the state. The deputies spoke as follows +before the assembly: "Be it advantageous, fortunate, and happy for you +and the republic--return to your country, to your household gods, your +wives and children; but carry into the city the same moderation which +you observed here, where in spite of the pressing need of so many +things necessary for so large a number of persons, no man's field has +been injured. Go to the Aventine, whence you set out. There, in that +auspicious place, where you laid the first beginnings of your liberty, +you shall elect tribunes of the people. The chief pontiff will be at +hand to hold the elections." Great was their approval and joy, as +evinced in their assent to every measure. They then pulled up their +standards, and having set out for Rome, vied in exultation with all +they met. Silently, under arms, they marched through the city and +reached the Aventine. There, the chief pontiff holding the meeting +for the elections, they immediately elected as their tribunes of +the people, first of all Lucius Verginius, then Lucius Icilius, and +Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginius, who had recommended the +secession: then Gaius Sicinius, the offspring of him who is recorded +to have been elected first tribune of the commons on the Sacred Mount; +and Marcus Duillius, who had held a distinguished tribuneship before +the appointment of the decemvirs, and never failed the commons in +their contests with the decemvirs. Marcus Titinius, Marcus Pomponius, +Gaius Apronius, Appius Villius, and Gaius Oppius, were elected more +from hope entertained of them than from any actual services. When he +entered on his tribuneship, Lucius Icilius immediately brought before +the people, and the people enacted, that the secession from the +decemvirs which had taken place should not prove detrimental to any +individual. Immediately after Duillius carried a proposition for +electing consuls, with right of appeal[59]. All these things were +transacted in an assembly of the commons in the Flaminian meadows, +which are now called the Flaminian Circus.[60] + +Then, through an interrex, Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius were +elected consuls, and immediately entered on their office; their +consulship, agreeable to the people, although it did no injury to +the patricians, was not, however, without giving them offence; for +whatever measures were taken to secure the liberty of the people, they +considered to be a diminution of their own power. First of all, when +it was as it were a disputed point of law, whether patricians were +bound by regulations enacted in an assembly of the commons, they +proposed a law in the assembly of the centuries, that whatever the +commons ordered in the assembly of the tribes, should be binding on +the entire people; by which law a most keen-edged weapon of offence +was given to the motions introduced by tribunes. Then another law made +by a consul concerning the right of appeal, a singularly effective +safeguard of liberty, that had been upset by the decemviral power, +was not only restored but also guarded for the time to come, by the +passing of a new law, that no one should appoint any magistrate +without appeal:[61] if any person should so appoint, it should be +lawful and right that he be put to death; and that such killing should +not be deemed a capital offence. And when they had sufficiently +secured the commons by the right of appeal on the one hand by +tribunician aid on the other, they revived for the tribunes themselves +the privilege that their persons should be considered inviolable--the +recollection of which was now almost forgotten--by renewing after a +long interval certain ceremonies which had fallen into disuse; and +they rendered them inviolable by religion, as well as by a law, +enacting that whosoever should offer injury to tribunes of the people, +ædiles, or judicial decemvirs, his person should be devoted to +Jupiter, and his property be sold at the Temple of Ceres, Liber, and +Libera. Expounders of the law deny that any person is by this law +inviolable, but assert that he, who may do an injury to any of them, +is deemed by law accursed: and that, accordingly, an ædile may be +arrested and carried to prison by superior magistrates, which, though +it be not expressly warranted by law (for an injury is done to a +person to whom it is not lawful to do an injury according to this +law), is yet a proof that an ædile is not considered as sacred and +inviolable; the tribunes, however, are sacred and inviolable according +to the ancient oath of the commons, when first they created that +office. There have been some who supposed that by this same Horatian +law provision was made for the consuls also and the prætors, because +they were elected under the same auspices as the consuls; for a consul +was called a judge. This interpretation is refuted, because at this +time it had not yet been customary for the consul to be styled judge, +but prætor.[62] These were the laws proposed by the consuls. It was +also arranged by the same consuls, that decrees of the senate, which +before that used to be suppressed and altered at the pleasure of the +consuls, should be deposited in the Temple of Ceres, under the care +of the aediles of the commons. Then Marcus Duillius, tribune of the +commons, brought before the people and the people enacted, that +whoever left the people without tribunes, and whoever caused a +magistrate to be elected without appeal, should be punished with +stripes and beheaded. All these enactments, though against the +feelings of the patricians, passed off without opposition from them, +because as yet no severity was aimed at any particular individual. + +Then, both the tribunician power and the liberty of the commons having +been firmly established, the tribunes, now deeming it both safe and +seasonable to attack individuals, singled out Verginius as the first +prosecutor and Appius as defendant. When Verginius had appointed a day +for Appius to take his trial, and Appius had come down to the forum, +accompanied by a band of young patricians, the recollection of his +most profligate exercise of power was instantly revived in the minds +of all, as soon as they beheld the man himself and his satellites. +Then said Verginius: "Long speeches are only meant for matters of a +doubtful nature. Accordingly, I shall neither waste time in dwelling +on the guilt of this man before you, from whose cruelty you have +rescued yourselves by force of arms, nor will I suffer him to add +impudence to his other crimes in defending himself. Wherefore, Appius +Claudius, I pardon you for all the impious and nefarious deeds you +have had the effrontery to commit one after another for the last two +years; with respect to one charge only, unless you shall choose a +judge who shall acquit you that you have not sentenced a free person +to slavery, contrary to the laws, I shall order that you be taken into +custody." Neither in the aid of the tribunes, nor in the judgment of +the people, could Appius place any hope: still he both appealed to the +tribunes, and, when no one heeded him, being seized by the officer, he +exclaimed, "I appeal." The hearing of this one word that safeguard of +liberty, and the fact that it was uttered from that mouth, by which +a free citizen was so recently consigned to slavery, caused silence. +And, while they loudly declared, each on his own behalf, that at +length the existence of the gods was proved, and that they did not +disregard human affairs; and that punishments awaited tyranny and +cruelty, which punishments, though late, were, however, by no means +light; that that man now appealed, who had abolished all right of +appeal; and that he implored the protection of the people, who had +trampled under foot all the rights of the people: and that he was +being dragged off to prison, destitute of the rights of liberty, who +had doomed a free person to slavery, the voice of Appius himself was +heard, amid the murmurs of the assembly, imploring the protection of +the Roman people. He enumerated the services of his ancestors to +the state, at home and abroad: his own unfortunate anxiety for the +interests of the Roman commons, owing to which he had resigned the +consulship, to the very great displeasure of the patricians, for the +purpose of equalizing the laws; he then went on to mention those laws +of his, the framer of which was dragged off to prison, though the laws +still remained in force. However, in regard to what bore especially on +his own case, his personal merits and demerits, he would make trial +of them, when an opportunity should be afforded him of stating his +defence; at present, he, a Roman citizen, demanded, by the common +right of citizenship, that he be allowed to speak on the day +appointed, and to appeal to the judgment of the Roman people: he +did not dread popular odium so much as not to place any hope in the +fairness and compassion of his fellow-citizens. But if he were led to +prison without being heard, that he once more appealed to the tribunes +of the people, and warned them not to imitate those whom they hated. +But if the tribunes acknowledged themselves bound by the same +agreement for abolishing the right of appeal, which they charged the +decemvirs with having conspired to form, then he appealed to the +people, he implored the aid of the laws passed that very year, both by +the consuls and tribunes, regarding the right of appeal. For who +would there be to appeal, if this were not allowed a person as yet +uncondemned, whose case had not been heard? What plebeian or humble +individual would find protection in the laws, if Appius Claudius +could not? That he would be a proof whether tyranny or liberty was +established by the new laws, and whether the right of appeal and of +challenge against the injustice of magistrates was only held out in +idle words, or really granted. + +Verginius, on the other hand, affirmed that Appius Claudius was the +only person who had no part or share in the laws, or in any covenant +civil or human. Men should look to the tribunal, the fortress of all +villainies, where that perpetual decemvir, venting his fury on the +property, person, and life of the citizens, threatening all with his +rods and axes, a despiser of gods and men, surrounded by men who were +executioners, not lictors, turning his thoughts from rapine and murder +to lust, tore a free-born maiden, as if she had been a prisoner of +war, from the embraces of her father, before the eyes of the Roman +people, and gave her as a present to a dependent, the minister to his +secret pleasures: where too by a cruel decree, and a most outrageous +decision, he armed the right hand of the father against the daughter: +where he ordered the betrothed and uncle, on their raising the +lifeless body of the girl, to be led away to prison, affected more by +the interruption of his lust than by her death: that the prison was +built for him also which he was wont to call the domicile of the Roman +commons. Wherefore, though he might appeal again and again, he himself +would again and again propose a judge, to try him on the charge of +having sentenced a free person to slavery; if he would not go before a +judge, he ordered him to be taken to prison as one already condemned. +He was thrown into prison, though without the disapprobation of any +individual, yet not without considerable emotion of the public mind, +since, in consequence of the punishment by itself of so distinguished +a man, their own liberty began to be considered by the commons +themselves as excessive.[63] + +The tribunes adjourned the day of trial. + +Meanwhile, ambassadors from the Hernicans and Latins came to Rome +to offer their congratulations on the harmony existing between the +patricians and commons, and as an offering on that account to Jupiter, +best and greatest, they brought into the Capitol a golden crown, of +small weight, as money at that time was not plentiful, and the duties +of religion were performed rather with piety than splendour. On the +same authority it was ascertained that the Aequans and Volscians were +preparing for war with the utmost energy. The consuls were therefore +ordered to divide the provinces between them. The Sabines fell to the +lot of Horatius, the Æquans to Valerius. After they had proclaimed a +levy for these wars, through the good offices of the commons, not only +the younger men, but a large number, consisting of volunteers from +among those who had served their time,[64] attended to give in their +names: and hence the army was stronger not only in the number but also +in the quality of its soldiers, owing to the admixture of veterans. +Before they marched out of the city, they engraved on brass, and fixed +up in public view, the decemviral laws, which are named "the twelve +tables." There are some who state that the aediles discharged that +office by order of the tribunes. + +Gaius Claudius, who, detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and, above +all, incensed at the arrogant conduct of his brother-in-law, had +retired to Regillum, his ancestral home. Though advanced in years, he +now returned to the City, to deprecate the dangers threatening the man +whose vicious practices had driven him into retirement. Going down to +the Forum in mourning garb, accompanied by the members of his house +and by his clients, he appealed to the citizens individually, and +implored them not to stain the house of the Claudii with such an +indelible disgrace as to deem them worthy of bonds and imprisonment. +To think that a man whose image would be held in highest honour +by posterity, the framer of their laws and the founder of Roman +jurisprudence, should be lying manacled amongst nocturnal thieves and +robbers! Let them turn their thoughts for a moment from feelings of +exasperation to calm examination and reflection, and forgive one man +at the intercession of so many of the Claudii, rather than through +their hatred of one man despise the prayers of many. So far he himself +would go for the honour of his family and his name, but he was not +reconciled to the man whose distressed condition he was anxious to +relieve. By courage their liberties had been recovered, by clemency +the harmony of the orders in the State could be strengthened. Some +were moved, but it was more by the affection he showed for his nephew +than by any regard for the man for whom he was pleading. But Verginius +begged them with tears to keep their compassion for him and his +daughter, and not to listen to the prayers of the Claudii, who had +assumed sovereign power over the plebs, but to the three tribunes, +kinsmen of Verginia, who, after being elected to protect the +plebeians, were now seeking their protection. This appeal was felt to +have more justice in it. All hope being now cut off, Appius put an end +to his life before the day of trial came. + +Soon after Sp. Oppius was arraigned by P. Numitorius. He was only +less detested than Appius, because he had been in the City when his +colleague pronounced the iniquitous judgment. More indignation, +however, was aroused by an atrocity which Oppius had committed than +by his not having prevented one. A witness was produced, who after +reckoning up twenty-seven years of service, and eight occasions on +which he had been decorated for conspicuous bravery, appeared before +the people wearing all his decorations. Tearing open his dress he +exhibited his back lacerated with stripes. He asked for nothing but a +proof on Oppius' part of any single charge against him; if such proof +were forthcoming, Oppius, though now only a private citizen, might +repeat all his cruelty towards him. Oppius was taken to prison and +there, before the day of trial, he put an end to his life. His +property and that of Claudius were confiscated by the tribunes. Their +colleagues changed their domicile by going into exile; their property +also was confiscated. M. Claudius, who had been the claimant of +Verginia, was tried and condemned; Verginius himself, however, refused +to press for the extreme penalty, so he was allowed to go into exile +to Tibur. Verginia was more fortunate after her death than in her +lifetime; her shade, after wandering through so many houses in quest +of expiatory penalties, at length found rest, not one guilty person +being now left. + +Great alarm seized the patricians; the looks of the tribunes were +now as menacing as those of the decemvirs had been. M. Duillius the +tribune imposed a salutary check upon their excessive exercise of +authority. "We have gone," he said, "far enough in the assertion of +our liberty and the punishment of our opponents, so for this year +I will allow no man to be brought to trial or cast into prison. I +disapprove of old crimes, long forgotten, being raked up, now that the +recent ones have been atoned for by the punishment of the decemvirs. +The unceasing care which both the consuls are taking to protect your +liberties is a guarantee that nothing will be done which will call for +the power of the tribunes." This spirit of moderation shown by the +tribune relieved the fears of the patricians, but it also intensified +their resentment against the consuls, for they seemed to be so wholly +devoted to the plebs, that the safety and liberty of the patricians +were a matter of more immediate concern to the plebeian than they were +to the patrician magistrates. It seemed as though their adversaries +would grow weary of inflicting punishment on them sooner than the +consuls would curb their insolence. It was pretty generally asserted +that they had shown weakness, since their laws had been sanctioned by +the senate, and no doubt was entertained that they had yielded to the +pressure of circumstances. + +After matters had been settled in the City and the position of the +plebs firmly assured, the consuls left for their respective provinces. +Valerius wisely suspended operations against the armies of the Aequans +and the Volscians, which had now united at Algidum: whereas, if he had +immediately intrusted the issue to fortune, I am inclined to think +that, considering the feelings both of the Romans and of their enemies +at that time, after the unfavourable auspices of the decemvirs,[65] +the contest would have cost him heavy loss. Having pitched his camp +at the distance of a mile from the enemy, he kept his men quiet. The +enemy filled the space lying between the two camps with their army +in order of battle, and not a single Roman made answer when they +challenged them to fight. At length, wearied with standing and waiting +in vain for a contest, the Aequans and Volscians, considering that the +victory was almost yielded to them, went off some to Hernican, others +to Latin territory, to commit depredations. There was left in the camp +rather a garrison for its defence than sufficient force for a contest. +When the consul perceived this, he in turn inspired the terror which +his own men had previously felt, and having drawn up his troops in +order of battle on his side, provoked the enemy to fight. When they, +conscious of their lack of forces, declined battle, the courage of the +Romans immediately increased, and they considered them vanquished, +as they stood panic-stricken within their rampart. Having stood +throughout the day eager for the contest, they retired at night. And +the Romans, now full of hope, set about refreshing themselves. The +enemy, in by no means equal spirits, being now anxious, despatched +messengers in every direction to recall the plundering parties. + +Those in the nearest places returned: those who were farther off were +not found. When day dawned, the Romans left the camp, determined on +assaulting the rampart, unless an opportunity of fighting presented +itself; and when the day was now far advanced, and no movement was +made by the enemy, the consul ordered an advance; and the troops being +put in motion, the Aequans and Volscians were seized with indignation, +at the thought that victorious armies had to be defended by a rampart +rather than by valour and arms. Wherefore they also earnestly demanded +the signal for battle from their generals, and received it. And now +half of them had got out of the gates, and the others in succession +were marching in order, as they went down each to his own post, when +the Roman consul, before the enemy's line, supported by their entire +strength, could get into close order, advanced upon them; and having +attacked them before they were all as yet led forth, and before those, +who were, had their lines properly drawn out, he fell upon them, +a crowd almost beginning to waver, as they ran from one place to +another, and gazed around upon themselves, and looked eagerly for +their friends, the shouts and violent attack adding to the already +panic-stricken condition of their minds. The enemy at first gave way; +then, having rallied their spirits, when their generals on every side +reproachfully asked them, whether they intended to yield to vanquished +foes, the battle was restored. + +On the other side, the consul desired the Romans to remember that on +that day, for the first time, they fought as free men in defence of +Rome, now a free city. That it was for themselves they were about to +conquer, not to become, when victorious, the prize of the decemvirs. +That it was not under the command of Appius that operations were +being conducted, but under their consul Valerius, descended from the +liberators of the Roman people, himself their liberator. Let them show +that in former battles it had been the fault of the generals and not +of the soldiers, that they did not conquer. That it was shameful to +have exhibited more courage against their own countrymen than against +their enemies, and to have dreaded slavery more at home than abroad. +That Verginia was the only person whose chastity had been in danger +in time of peace; that Appius had been the only citizen of dangerous +lust. But if the fortune of war should turn against them, the children +of all would be in danger from so many thousands of enemies; that he +was unwilling to forebode what neither Jupiter nor their father Mars +would be likely to suffer to befall a city built under such auspices. +He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount; that they +should bring back dominion unimpaired to that spot, where their +liberty had been won but a few months before; and that they should +show that the Roman soldiers retained the same disposition after the +expulsion of the decemvirs, as they had possessed before they +were appointed, and that the valour of the Roman people had not +deteriorated after the laws had been equalized. After he uttered these +words among the battalions of the infantry, he hurried from them to +the cavalry. "Come, young men," said he, "show yourselves superior to +the infantry in valour, as you already are their superiors in honour +and in rank. The infantry at the first onset have made the enemy give +way; now that they have given way, do you give reins to your horses +and drive them from the field. They will not stand your charge; even +now they rather hesitate than resist." They spurred on their horses, +and charged at full speed against the enemy, who were already thrown +into confusion by the attack of the infantry: and having broken +through the ranks, some dashing on to the rear of their line, others +wheeling about in the open space from the flanks, turned most of them +away from the camp as they were now flying in all directions, and by +riding beyond them headed them off. The line of infantry, the consul +himself, and the whole onset of the battle was borne toward the camp, +and having taken it with considerable slaughter, he got possession of +still more considerable booty. The fame of this battle, carried not +only to the city, but to the other army also in Sabine territory, was +welcomed in the city with public rejoicing; in the camp, it inspirited +the soldiers to emulate such glory. Horatius, by training them in +sallies, and making trial of them in slight skirmishes, had accustomed +them to trust in themselves rather than remember the ignominy incurred +under the command of the decemvirs, and these trifling engagements had +greatly contributed to the successful consummation of their hopes. The +Sabines, elated at their success in the preceding year, ceased not +to provoke and urge them to fight, constantly asking why they wasted +time, sallying forth in small numbers and returning like marauders, +and why they distributed the issue of a single war over a number of +engagements, and those of no importance. Why did they not meet them in +the field, and intrust to fortune the decision of the matter once and +for all? + +Besides that they had already of themselves recovered sufficient +courage, the Romans were fired with exasperation at the thought that +the other army would soon return victorious to the city; that the +enemy were now wantonly affronting them with insolence: when, +moreover, would they be a match for the enemy, if they were not so +then? When the consul ascertained that the soldiers loudly expressed +these sentiments in the camp, having summoned an assembly, he spoke +as follows: "How matters have fared in Algidum, I suppose that you, +soldiers, have already heard. As became the army of the free people +to behave, so have they behaved; through the good judgment of my +colleague and the valour of the soldiers, the victory has been gained. +For my part, I shall display the same judgment and determination as +you yourselves, O soldiers, display. The war may either be prolonged +with advantage, or be brought to a speedy conclusion. If it is to be +prolonged, I shall take care, by employing the same method of warfare +with which I have begun, that your hopes and your valour may increase +every day. If you have now sufficient courage, and it is your wish +that the matter be decided, come, raise here a shout such as you will +raise in the field of battle, in token both of your wishes and your +valour." Whenthe shout was raised with great alacrity, he assured them +that he would comply with their wishes--and so might Heaven prosper +it--and lead them next day into the field. The remainder of the day +was spent in getting ready their arms. On the following day, as soon +as the Sabines saw the Roman army being drawn up in order of battle, +they too, having long since been eager for the encounter, advanced. +The battle was one such as would be fought between two armies who both +had confidence in themselves, the one on account of its long-standing +and unbroken career of glory, the other recently elated by its unusual +success. The Sabines aided their strength also by stratagem; for, +having formed a line equal to that of the Romans, they kept two +thousand men in reserve, to make an attack on the left wing of the +Romans in the heat of the battle. When these, by an attack in flank, +were on the point of overpowering that wing, now almost surrounded, +about six hundred of the cavalry of two legions leaped down from their +horses, and, as their men were giving way, rushed forward in front, +and at the same time both opposed the advance of the enemy, and roused +the courage of the infantry, first by sharing the danger equally with +them, and then by arousing in them a sense of shame. It was a matter +of shame that the cavalry should fight in their own proper fashion and +in that of others, and that the infantry should not be equal to the +cavalry even when dismounted.[66] + +They marched therefore to the fight, which had been suspended on their +part, and endeavoured to regain the ground which they had lost, and in +a moment not only was the battle restored, but one of the wings of +the Sabines gave way. The cavalry, protected between the ranks of the +infantry, remounted their horses; they then galloped across to the +other division to announce their success to their party; at the same +time also they charged the enemy, now disheartened by the discomfiture +of their stronger wing. The valour of none shone forth more +conspicuous in that battle. The consul provided for all emergencies; +he applauded the brave, rebuked wherever the battle seemed to slacken. +When reproved, they displayed immediately the deeds of brave men; and +a sense of shame stimulated these, as much as praises the others. The +shout being raised anew, all together making a united effort, drove +the enemy back; nor could the Roman attack be any longer resisted. + +The Sabines, driven in every direction through the country, left their +camp behind them for the enemy to plunder. There the Romans recovered +the effects, not of the allies, as at Algidum, but their own property, +which had been lost by the devastations of their lands. For this +double victory, gained in two battles, in two different places, the +senate in a niggardly spirit merely decreed thanksgivings in the name +of the consuls for one day only. The people went, however, on the +second day also, in great numbers of their own accord to offer +thanksgiving; and this unauthorized and popular thanksgiving, owing to +their zeal, was even better attended. The consuls by agreement came +to the city within the same two days, and summoned the senate to +the Campius Martius.[67] When they were there relating the services +performed by themselves, the chiefs of the patricians complained that +the senate was designedly convened among the soldiers for the purpose +of intimidation. The consuls, therefore, that there might be no room +for such a charge, called away the senate to the Flaminian meadows, +where the Temple of Apollo now is (even then it was called the +Apollinare). There, when a triumph was refused by a large majority +of the patricians, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the commons, brought a +proposition before the people regarding the triumph of the consuls, +many persons coming forward to argue against the measure, but in +particular Gaius Claudius, who exclaimed, that it was over the senate, +not over the enemy, that the consuls wished to triumph; and that it +was intended as a return for a private service to a tribune, and not +as an honour due to valour. That never before had the matter of a +triumph been managed through the people; but that the consideration of +that honour and the disposal of it, had always rested with the senate; +that not even the kings had infringed on the majesty of this most +august body. The tribunes should not so occupy every department with +their own authority, as to allow the existence of no public council; +that the state would be free, and the laws equalized by these means +only, if each order retained its own rights and its own dignity. After +much had been said by the other senior patricians also to the same +purpose, all the tribes approved the proposition. Then for the first +time a triumph was celebrated by order of the people, without the +authority of the senate. + +This victory of the tribunes and people was well-nigh terminating in +an extravagance by no means salutary, a conspiracy being formed among +the tribunes that the same tribunes might be re-elected, and, in +order that their own ambition might be the less conspicuous, that +the consuls also might have their office prolonged. They pleaded, in +excuse, the combination of the patricians by which the privileges of +the commons were attempted to be undermined by the affronts of the +consuls. What would be the consequence, when the laws were as yet not +firmly established, if they attacked the new tribunes through consuls +of their own party? Men like Horatius and Valerius would not always be +consuls, who would regard their own interests as secondary after the +liberty of the people. By some concurrence of circumstances, useful in +view of the situation, it fell by lot to Marcus Duillius before +all others to preside at the elections, a man of prudence, and who +perceived the storm of public odium that was hanging over them from +the continuance of their office. And when he declared that he would +take no account of any of the former tribunes, and his colleagues +struggled to get him to allow the tribes to vote independently, or to +give up the office of presiding at the elections, which he held by +lot, to his colleagues, who would hold the elections according to law +rather than according to the pleasure of the patricians; a contention +being now excited, when Duillius had sent for the consuls to his +seat and asked them what they contemplated doing with respect to the +consular elections, and they answered that they would appoint new +consuls; then, having secured popular supporters of a measure by no +means popular, he proceeded with them into the assembly. There the +consuls were brought forward before the people, and asked what they +would do if the Roman people mindful of their liberty recovered at +home through them, mindful also of their services in war, should again +elect them consuls: and when they in no way changed their opinions, +he held the election, after eulogizing the consuls, because they +persevered to the last in being unlike the decemvirs; and five +tribunes of the people having been elected, when, through the zealous +exertions of the nine tribunes who openly pressed their canvass, the +other candidates could not make up the required number of tribes, he +dismissed the assembly; nor did he hold one afterward for the purpose +of an election. He said that the law had been satisfied, which, +without any number being anywhere specified, only enacted that +tribunes who had been elected should be left to choose their +colleagues and confirmed those chosen by them. He then went on to +recite the formula of the law, in which it was laid down: "If I shall +propose for election ten tribunes of the commons, if from any cause +you shall elect this day less than ten tribunes of the people, then +that those whom they may have chosen as colleagues for themselves, +that these, I say, be legitimate tribunes of the people on the same +conditions as those whom you shall on this day have elected tribunes +of the people." When Duillius persevered to the last, stating that the +republic could not have fifteen tribunes of the people, having baffled +the ambition of his colleagues, he resigned office, equally approved +of by patricians and commons. + +The new tribunes of the people, in electing their colleagues +endeavoured to gratify the wishes of the patricians; they even elected +two who were patricians,[68] and men of consular rank Spurius Tarpeius +and Aulus Aternius. The consuls elected, Spurius Herminius, Titus +Verginius Cælimontanus, not being specially inclined to the cause +either of the patricians or commons, had perfect tranquillity both at +home and abroad. Lucius Trebonius, tribune of the commons, incensed +against the patricians, because, as he said, he had been imposed on +by them in the matter of choosing tribunes, and betrayed by his +colleagues, brought forward a proposal, that whoever proposed he +election of tribunes of the people before the commons, should go on +taking the votes, until he elected ten tribunes of the people; and he +spent his tribuneship in worrying the patricians, whence the surname +of Asper was given him. Next Marcus Geganius Macerinus, and Gaius +Julius, being elected consuls, quieted some disputes that had arisen +between the tribunes and the youth of the nobility, without displaying +any harshness against that power, and at the same time preserving the +dignity of the patricians. By proclaiming a levy for the war against +the Volscians and Æquans, they kept the people from riots by keeping +matters in abeyance, affirming that everything was also quiet abroad, +owing to the harmony in the city, and that it was only through civil +discord that foreign foes took courage. Their anxiety for peace abroad +was also the cause of harmony at home. But notwithstanding, the one +order ever attacked the moderation of the other. Acts of injustice +began to be committed by the younger patricians on the commons, +although the latter kept perfectly quiet. Where the tribunes assisted +the more humble, in the first place it accomplished little: and +thereafter they did not even themselves escape ill-treatment: +particularly in the latter months, when injustice was committed +through the combinations among the more powerful, and the power of the +office became considerably weaker in the latter part of the year. And +now the commons placed some hopes in the tribuneship, if only they +could get tribunes like Icilius: for the last two years they declared +that they had only had mere names. On the other hand, the elder +members of the patrician order, though they considered their young men +to be too overbearing, yet preferred, if bounds were to be exceeded, +that a superabundance of spirit should be exhibited by their own order +rather than by their adversaries. So difficult a thing is moderation +in maintaining liberty, while every one, by pretending to desire +equality, exalts himself in such a manner as to put down another, +and men, by their very precautions against fear, cause themselves to +become objects of dread: and we saddle on others injustice repudiated +on our own account, as if it were absolutely necessary either to +commit injustice or to submit to it. Titus Quinctius Capitolinus for +the fourth time and Agrippa Furius being then elected consuls, found +neither disturbance at home nor war abroad; both, however, were +impending. The discord of the citizens could now no longer be checked, +both tribunes and commons being exasperated against the patricians, +while, if a day of trial was appointed for any of the nobility, it +always embroiled the assemblies in new struggles. On the first report +of these the Æquans and Volscians, as if they had received a signal, +took up arms; also because their leaders, eager for plunder, had +persuaded them that the levy proclaimed two years previously could not +be proceeded with, as the commons now refused obedience to military +authority: that for that reason no armies had been sent against them; +that military discipline was subverted by licentiousness, and that +Rome was no longer considered a common country for its citizens; that +whatever resentment and animosity they might have entertained +against foreigners, was now directed against themselves; that now an +opportunity offered itself for destroying wolves blinded by intestine +rage. Having united their forces, they first utterly laid waste the +Latin territory: when none met them to avenge the wrong, then indeed, +to the great exultation of the advisers of the war, they approached +the very walls of Rome, carrying their depredations into the district +around the Esquiline gate[69] pointing out to the city in mocking +insult the devastation of the land. When they marched back thence to +Corbio unmolested and driving their booty before them, Quinctius the +consul summoned the people to an assembly. + +There I find that he spoke to this effect: "Though I am conscious to +myself of no fault, Quirites, yet it is with the greatest shame I have +come forward to your assembly. To think that you should know this, +that this should be handed down on record to posterity, that the +Æquans and Volscians a short time since scarcely a match for the +Hernicans, have with impunity come with arms in their hands to the +walls of Rome, in the fourth consulate of Titus Quinctius! Had I known +that this disgrace was reserved for this year, above all others, +though we have now long been living in such a manner, and such is the +state of affairs, that my mind can forebode nothing good, I would have +avoided this honour either by exile or by death, if there had been no +other means of escaping it. Then, if men of courage had held those +arms, which were at our gates, Rome could have been taken during my +consulate. I have had sufficient honours, enough and more than enough +of life: I ought to have died in my third consulate. Whom, I pray, did +these most dastardly enemies despise? Us, consuls, or you, Quirites? +If the fault lies in us, take away the command from those who are +unworthy of it; and, if that is not enough, further inflict punishment +on us. If the fault is yours, may there be none of gods or men to +punish your offences: do you yourselves only repent of them. It is not +your cowardice they have despised, nor their own valour that they have +put their trust in: having been so often routed and put to flight, +stripped of their camp, mulcted in their land, sent under the yoke, +they know both themselves and you. It is the discord among the several +orders that is the curse of this city, the contests between the +patricians and commons. While we have neither bounds in the pursuit of +power, nor you in that of liberty, while you are wearied of patrician, +we of plebeian magistrates, they have taken courage. In the name of +Heaven, what would you have? You desired tribunes of the commons; we +granted them for the sake of concord. You longed for decemvirs; +we suffered them to be created. You became weary of decemvirs; we +compelled them to resign office. Your resentment against these same +persons when they became private citizens still continuing, we +suffered men of the highest family and rank to die or go into exile. +You wished asecond time to create tribunes of the commons; you created +them. You wished to elect consuls attached to your party; and, +although we saw that it was unjust to the patricians, we have even +resigned ourselves to see a patrician magistracy conceded as an +offering to the people. The aid of tribunes, right of appeal to the +people, the acts of the commons made binding on the patricians under +the pretext of equalizing the laws, the subversion of our privileges, +we have endured and still endure. What end is there to be to our +dissensions? When shall it be allowed us to have a united city, one +common country? We, when defeated, submit with greater resignation +than you when victorious. Is it enough for you, that you are objects +of terror to us? The Aventine is taken against us: against us the +Sacred Mount is seized. When the Esquiline was almost taken by the +enemy, no one defended it, and when the Volscian foe was scaling the +rampart, no one drove him off: it is against us you behave like men, +against us you are armed. + +"Come, when you have blockaded the senate-house here, and have made +the forum the seat of war, and filled the prison with the leading men +of the state, march forth through the Esquiline gate, with that same +determined spirit; or, if you do not even venture thus far, behold +from your walls your lands laid waste with fire and sword, booty +driven off, houses set on fire in every direction and smoking. But, I +may be told, it is only the public weal that is in a worse condition +through this: the land is burned, the city is besieged, the glory of +the war rests with the enemy. What in the name of Heaven--what is the +state of your own private affairs? Even now to each of you his own +private losses from the country will be announced. What, pray, is +there at home, whence you can recruit them? Will the tribunes restore +and re-establish what you have lost? Of sound and words they will heap +on you as much as you please, and of charges against the leading men, +laws one after another, and public meetings. But from these meetings +never has one of you returned home more increased in substance or in +fortune. Has any one ever brought back to his wife and children aught +save hatred, quarrels, grudges public and private, from which you may +ever be protected, not by your own valour and integrity, but by the +aid of others? But, by Hercules! When you served under the command of +us consuls, not under tribunes, in the camp and not in the forum, and +the enemy trembled at your shout in the field of battle, not the Roman +patricians in the assembly, having gained booty and taken land from +the enemy, loaded with wealth and glory, both public and private, you +used to return home in triumph to your household gods: now you allow +the enemy to go off laden with your property. Continue fast bound to +your assemblies, live in the forum; the necessity of taking the field, +which you strive to escape, still follows you. It was hard on you to +march against the Æquans and the Volscians: the war is at your gates: +if it is not driven from thence, it will soon be within your walls, +and will scale the citadel and Capitol, and follow you into your very +houses. Two years ago the senate ordered a levy to be held, and an +army to be marched out to Algidum; yet we sit down listless at home, +quarrelling with each other like women, delighting in present peace, +and not seeing that after that short-lived inactivity war will return +with interest. That there are other topics more pleasing than these, +I well know; but even though my own mind did not prompt me to it, +necessity obliges me to speak the truth rather than what is pleasing. +I would indeed like to meet with your approval, Quirites; but I am +much more anxious that you should be preserved, whatever sentiments +you shall entertain toward me. It has been so ordained by nature, that +he who addresses a crowd for his own private interest, is more welcome +than the man whose mind has nothing in view but the public interest +unless perhaps you suppose that those public sycophants those +flatterers of the commons, who neither suffer you to take up arms nor +to live in peace, excite and work you up for your own interests. When +excited, you are to them sources either of position or of profit: and, +because, when the orders are in accord, they see that they themselves +are of no importance in anything, they prefer to be leaders of a bad +cause, of tumults and sedition, rather than of no cause at all. If +you can at last become wearied of all this, and if you are willing to +resume the habits practised by your forefathers of old, and formerly +by yourselves, in place of these new ones, I am ready to submit to +any punishment, if I do not in a few days rout and put to flight, and +strip of their camp those devastators of our lands, and transfer from +our gates and walls to their cities this terror of war, by which you +are now thrown into consternation." + +Scarcely ever was the speech of a popular tribune more acceptable to +the commons than this of a most austere consul on that occasion. The +young men also, who, during such alarms, had been accustomed to employ +the refusal to enlist as the sharpest weapon against the patricians, +began to turn their attention to war and arms: and the flight of the +rustics, and those who had been robbed and wounded in the country, by +announcing events more revolting even than what was before their eyes, +filled the whole city with exasperation. When they came into the +senate, there all, turning to Quinctius, looked upon him as the only +champion of the majesty of Rome: and the leading senators declared +that his harangue was worthy of the consular authority, worthy of so +many consulships formerly borne by him, worthy of his whole life, full +of honours frequently enjoyed, more frequently deserved. That other +consuls had either flattered the commons by betraying the dignity of +the patricians, or by harshly maintaining the rights of their order, +had rendered the multitude more exasperated by their efforts to subdue +them: that Titus Quinctius had delivered a speech mindful of the +dignity of the patricians, of the concord of the different orders, +and above all, of the needs of the times. They entreated him and his +colleague to assume the management of the commonwealth; they entreated +the tribunes, by acting in concert with the consuls, to join in +driving back the war from the city and the walls, and to induce the +commons to be obedient to the senate at so perilous a conjuncture: +declaring that, their lands being devastated, and their city in a +manner besieged, their common country appealed to them as tribunes, +and implored their aid. By universal consent the levy was decreed and +held. When the consuls gave public notice that there was no time for +considering claims for exemption; that all the young men should attend +on the following morning at dawn in the Campus Martius; that when the +war was over, they would afford time for inquiring into the excuses of +those who had not given in their names; that the man should be held +as a deserter, whose excuse they found unsatisfactory; all the youth +attended on the following day. The cohorts [70] chose each their +centurions: two senators were placed at the head of each cohort. +We have read that all these measures were carried out with such +expedition that the standards, which had been brought forth from the +treasury on that very day by the quæstors and conveyed to the Campus, +started from thence at the fourth hour; and the newly-raised army +halted at the tenth milestone, followed only by a few cohorts of +veteran soldiers as volunteers. The following day brought the enemy +within sight, and camp was joined to camp near Corbio. On the third +day, when resentment urged on the Romans, and a consciousness of guilt +for having so often rebelled and a feeling of despair, the others, +there was no delay in coming to an engagement. + +In the Roman army, though the two consuls were invested with equal +authority, the supreme command was, by the concession of Agrippa, +resigned to his colleague, an arrangement most salutary in the conduct +of matters of great importance; and he who was preferred made a polite +return for the ready condescension of the other, who thus lowered +himself, by making him his confidant in all his plans and sharing with +him his honours, and by putting him on an equality with him although +he was by no means as capable. On the field of battle Quinctius +commanded the right, Agrippa the left wing; the command of the centre +was intrusted to Spurius Postumius Albus, as lieutenant-general. +Publius Sulpicius, the other lieutenant-general, was placed at the +head of the cavalry. The infantry on the right wing fought with +distinguished valour, while the Volscians offered a stout resistance. +Publius Sulpicius with his cavalry broke through the centre of the +enemy's line; and, though he might have returned thence in the same +way to his own party, before the enemy restored their broken ranks, +it seemed more advisable to attack them in the rear, and in a moment, +charging the line in the rear, he would have dispersed the enemy by +the double attack, had not the cavalry of the Volscians and Æquans +kept him for some time engaged by a mode of fighting like his own. +Then indeed Sulpicius declared that there was no time for delay, +crying out that they were surrounded and would be cut off from their +own friends, unless they united all their efforts and despatched the +engagement with the cavalry. Nor was it enough to rout the enemy +without disabling them; they must slay horses and men, that none might +return to the fight or renew the battle; that these could not resist +them, before whom a compact body of infantry had given way. His orders +were addressed to no deaf ears; by a single charge they routed the +entire cavalry, dismounted great numbers, and killed with their +javelins both the riders and the horses. Thus ended the cavalry +engagement. Then, having attacked the enemy's infantry, they sent an +account to the consuls of what had been done, where the enemy's line +was already giving way. The news both gave fresh courage to the +Romans who were now gaining the day, and dismayed the Æquans who were +beginning to give way. They first began to be beaten in the centre, +where the furious charge of the cavalry had broken their ranks. Then +the left wing began to lose ground before the consul Quinctius; the +contest was most obstinate on the right. Then Agrippa, in the vigour +of his youth and strength, seeing matters going more favourably in +every part of the battle than in his own quarter, snatched some of the +standards from the standard-bearers and carried them on himself, some +even he began to throw into the thick of the enemy.[71] + +The soldiers, urged on by the fear of this disgrace, attacked the +enemy; thus the victory was equalized in every quarter. News then came +from Quinctius that he, being now victorious, was about to attack +the enemy's camp; that he was unwilling to break into it, before he +learned that they were beaten in the left wing also. If he had routed +the enemy, let him now join him, that all the army together might +take possession of the booty. Agrippa, being victorious, with mutual +congratulations advanced toward his victorious colleague and the +enemy's camp. There, as there were but few to defend it, and these +were routed in a moment they broke into the fortifications without a +struggle, and marched back the army, in possession of abundant spoil, +having recovered also their own effects, which had been lost by the +devastation of the lands. I have not heard that they either themselves +demanded a triumph, or that one was offered to them by the senate; nor +is any cause assigned for the honour being either overlooked or not +hoped for. As far as I can conjecture at so great a distance of time, +since a triumph had been refused to the consuls Horatius and Valerius, +who, in addition to the victory over the Æquans and Volscians, had +gained the glory of having also finished the Sabine war, the consuls +were ashamed to demand a triumph for one half of the services done by +them, lest, even if they should have obtained it, regard might appear +to have been paid to persons rather than to merit. + +A disgraceful decision of the people regarding the boundaries of their +allies marred the honourable victory obtained over their enemies. The +people of Aricia [72] and of Ardea, who had frequently contended in +arms concerning a disputed piece of land, wearied out by many losses +on either side, appointed the Roman people as arbitrators. When they +arrived to support their claims, an assembly of the people being +granted them by the magistrates, the matter was debated with great +warmth. The witnesses being now produced, when it was time for the +tribes to be called, and for the people to give their votes, Publius +Scaptius, a plebeian advanced in years, rose up and said, "Consuls, if +it is permitted me to speak on the public interest, I will not suffer +the people to be led into a mistake in this matter." When the consuls +said that he, as unworthy of attention, ought not to be heard, and, on +his shouting that the public interest was being betrayed, ordered him +to be put aside, he appealed to the tribunes. The tribunes, as they +are nearly always directed by the multitude rather than direct it, +granted Scaptius leave to say what he pleased in deference to the +people, who were anxious to hear him. He then began: That he was now +in his eighty-third year, and that he had served in that district +which was now in dispute, not even then a young man, as he was already +serving in his twentieth campaign, when operations were going on at +Corioli. He therefore brought forward a fact forgotten by length of +time--one, however, deeply fixed in his memory, namely, that the +district now in dispute had belonged to the territory of Corioli, and, +after the taking of Corioli, it had become come by right of war the +public property of the Roman people. That he was surprised how the +states of Ardea and Aricia could have the face to hope to deprive the +Roman people, whom instead of lawful owners they had made arbitrators; +of a district the right of which they had never claimed while the +state of Corioli existed. That he for his part had but a short time +to live; he could not, however, bring himself, old as he now was, to +desist claiming by his voice, the only means he now had, a district +which, as a soldier, he had contributed to acquire, as far as a man +could. That he strenuously advised the people not to ruin their own +interest by an idle feeling of delicacy. + +The consuls, when they perceived that Scaptius was listened to not +only in silence, but even with approbation, calling gods and men to +witness, that a disgraceful enormity was being committed, summoned +the principal senators: with them they went round to the tribes, +entreated, that, as judges, they would not be guilty of a most heinous +crime, with a still worse precedent, by converting the subject of +dispute to their own interest, more especially when, even though it +may be lawful for a judge to look after his own interest, so much +would by no means be acquired by keeping the land, as would be lost by +alienating the affections of their allies by injustice; for that the +loss of reputation and confidence was of greater importance than could +be estimated. Was this the answer the ambassadors were to carry home; +was this to go out to the world; were their allies to hear this; were +their enemies to hear it--with what sorrow the one--with what joy the +other? Could they suppose that the neighbouring states would ascribe +this proceeding to Scaptius, an old babbler at assemblies? That +Scaptius would be rendered distinguished by this statue: but that the +Roman people would assume the character of a corrupt informer [73] +and appropriator of the claims of others. For what judge in a private +cause ever acted in such a way as to adjudge to himself the property +in dispute? That even Scaptius himself would not act so, though he had +now outlived all sense of shame. Thus the consuls, thus the senators +exclaimed; but covetousness, and Scaptius, the adviser of that +covetousness, had more influence. The tribes, when convened, decided +that the district was the public property of the Roman people. Nor can +it be denied that it might have been so, if they had gone to other +judges; but, as it is, the infamy of the decision is not in any +way diminished by the justice of the cause: nor did it appear more +disgraceful or more repulsive to the people of Aricia and of Ardea, +than it did to the Roman senate. The remainder of the year continued +free from disturbances both at home and abroad. [74] + + +Footnotes: + +[Footnote 1: The ager publicus or public land consisted of the landed +estates which had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land +taken from enemies who had been captured in war. The patricians had +gained exclusive occupation of this, for which they paid a nominal +rent in the shape of produce and tithes: the state, however, still +retained the right of disposal of it. By degrees the ager publicus +fell into the hands of a few rich individuals, who were continually +buying up smaller estates, which were cultivated by slaves, thus +reducing the number of free agricultural labourers.] + +[Footnote 2: Directly, rather than by lot as was usual.] + +[Footnote 4: In later times the censor performed this office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: This decree was practically a bestowal of absolute +power.--D.O.] + +[Footnote: In later times the proconsul was the consul of the previous +year, appointed to act as such over one of the provinces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: This gate was on the west side, in the rear, farthest +from the enemy: it was so called from the decumanus, a line drawn from +east to west, which divided the camp into two halves: see note in +revised edition of Prendeville's Livy.] + +[Footnote 8: August 1st] + +[Footnote 9: The consular year, not the civil one, which began in +January: the time at which the consuls entered upon office varied very +much until B.C. 153, when it was finally settled that the date of +their doing so should be January 1st.] + +[Footnote 10: Called "Via Praenestina" beyond Gabii.] + +[Footnote 11: That is, broke up camp.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: The people of Rome had been divided in early times into +thirty curies: each of these had an officiating priest, called curio, +and the whole body was under the presidency of the curio maximus.] + +[Footnote 13: The ten leading senators held the office in rotation for +five days each, until the consular comitia were held.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: August 11th] + +[Footnote 15: A lesser form of triumph.] + +[Footnote 16: The Sibylline books, supposed to have been sold to +Tarquinius Superbus by the Sibyl of Cumæ: they were written in Greek +hexameter verses. In times of emergency and distress they were +consulted and interpreted by special priests (the duumviri here +mentioned).] + +[Footnote 17: It will be frequently observed that the patricians +utilized their monopoly of religious offices to effect their own +ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Curule chairs of office.] + +[Footnote 19: That is, recruits.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: The worst quarter of the city--its White chapel as it +were. It lay, roughly speaking, from the Forum eastward along the +valley between Esquiline and Viminial Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, to insure punishment and practically abnegate +the right an accused person had of escaping sentence by voluntary +exile.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps the first bail-bond historically noted.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: That is, refused to accept the plea.] + +[Footnote 24: That is, defended them in court.] + +[Footnote 25: The Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol was divided into +three parts: the middle was sacred to Jupiter, the right to Minerva, +the left to Juno. By "other gods" are meant Terminus, Fides, +Juventas.] + +[Footnote 26: Publicola, the father of Brutus.] + +[Footnote 27: That is, personal violence from the young +patricians.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 28: Their control over the auspices was a favourite weapon +of the patricians, and one which could naturally be better used at +a distance from Rome. The frequency of its use would seem to argue +adaptability in the devotional feelings of the nobles at least, which +might modify our reliance upon the statement made above as to the +respect for the gods then prevalent in Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: This was the limit of the tribunes' authority.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: This gate, from which at a later date the Via Appia and +the Via Latina started, stood near what is now the junction of the Via +S. Gregorio with the Vi di Porta S. Sebastiano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: By drawing part of the Roman army to the defence of the +allied city.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Two spears were set upright and a third lashed across. +To pass through and under this "yoke" was, among the Italian states, +the greatest indignity that could be visited upon a captured army. It +symbolized servititude in arms.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 33: This would seem to augur some treachery, unless we are +to believe that only the young men taken in the citadel were +sent under the yoke, the slaughter took place among the flying +besiegers.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: "Quæstors," these officers are first mentioned in Book +II, ch. xii. In early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those guilty of treason, and to carry the punishment into +execution.] + +[Footnote 35: Evidently a new pretext for delay.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: A little beyond Crustumerium, on the Via Salaria.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 37: Possibly to one assigned to him officially. +Freese regards the expression as inconsistent with his alleged +poverty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A curious feature of a triumph were the disrespectful +and often scurrilous verses chanted by the soldiers at the expense of +their general--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: The meaning of this passage is obscure. Many +explanations have been attempted, none of which, to my mind, is quite +satisfactory.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 40: Priest of Quirinus.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 41: The law forbade burial within the limits of the city +except in certain cases.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: That is, relinquished his right of acting as judge in +favour of the people and of popular trial.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 43: A new law was hung up in the Forum for public +perusal.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 44: As in the case of a dictator. At first half, and finally +all, of the consular lictors carried only the fasces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: That is, the incumbents of the past year, now of right +private persons, their term of office having expired.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: The fine for non-attendance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: As being out of order, the senate having been convened +to consider the war.] + +[Footnote 48: Rex Sacrificulus (see note, page 73).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: As having been improperly convened.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 50: That is, of Valerius, but rather of Appius himself in +restraining him from precipitating matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: Appius's argument is that, if Verginia was living in a +state of slavery under Claudius, as any one might institute an action +to establish her liberty, she would be entitled to her liberty until +the matter was settled: but as she was now living under her father's +protection, and was his property by the right of the patria potestas, +and he was absent, and as other person had a right to keep or defend +her, she ought to be given up to the man who claimed to be her master, +pending her father's return.] + +[Footnote 52: Venus Cloacina (she who cleanses).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: On two sides of the forum were colonnades, between the +pillars of which were tradesmen's booths known as "the Old Booths" and +"the New Booths."] + +[Footnote 54: That is, to the infernal gods.] + +[Footnote 55: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome: Verginia."] + +[Footnote 56: The civilian togas.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: Appius Claudius, a member of their order.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: From the Colline gate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: From whose decision an appeal would lie.] + +[Footnote 60: The church of S. Caterina de' Fernari now stands within +its lines.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 61: Evidently this could not apply to a dictator.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: The name consul, although used by Livy (Bk. I, ch. Ix), +was not really employed until after the period of the decemvirs. The +title in early use was prætor: it is not definitely known when the +name judex was attached to the office.] + +[Footnote 63: I question the rendering of this sentence. To read +plebis for plebi would very much improve the sense.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 64: Twenty years.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 65: The misfortunes of the previous campaign were supposed +to exert an influence on the present one.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: The cavalry at this period wore no defensive armour, and +carried only an ox-hide buckler and a light lance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: A victorious general who had entered the city could not +afterward triumph.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: It was first necessary for these to be adopted into +plebeian families, as none but plebeians were eligible.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: It stood about where the Arch of Gallienus now +stands.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: Each legion was divided into ten cohorts.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: A not unusual method of forcing the charge, as not +only military honour but religious sentiment forbade the loss of the +standards.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 72: About twenty miles from Rome in the Alban Mountains. The +village of Ariccia occupies the site of the ancient citadel.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 73: Quadruplatores were public informers, so called because +they received a fourth part of the fine imposed: also used in a +general sense of those who tried to promote their interests by +underhand means.] + +[Footnote 74: This is one of the best of Livy's books. The story of +Verginia and of the deposition and punishment of the decemvirs is +unexcelled in historical narrative.--D.O.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Roman History, Books I-III, by Titus Livius + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10828 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6bc234 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10828 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10828) diff --git a/old/10828-8.txt b/old/10828-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4bd5aad --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10828-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10542 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman History, Books I-III, by Titus Livius + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman History, Books I-III + +Author: Titus Livius + +Release Date: January 25, 2004 [EBook #10828] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN HISTORY, BOOKS I-III *** + + + + +Produced by Jayam Subramanian, Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +ROMAN HISTORY + +By + +Titus Livius + + +Translated by + + +John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb + + +With a Critical and Biographical Introduction and Notes by Duffield +Osborne + + +Illustrated + +1904 + + + +LIVY'S HISTORY + +Of the lost treasures of classical literature, it is doubtful whether +any are more to be regretted than the missing books of Livy. That +they existed in approximate entirety down to the fifth century, and +possibly even so late as the fifteenth, adds to this regret. At the +same time it leaves in a few sanguine minds a lingering hope that some +unvisited convent or forgotten library may yet give to the world a +work that must always be regarded as one of the greatest of Roman +masterpieces. The story that the destruction of Livy was effected by +order of Pope Gregory I, on the score of the superstitions contained +in the historian's pages, never has been fairly substantiated, and +therefore I prefer to acquit that pontiff of the less pardonable +superstition involved in such an act of fanatical vandalism. That the +books preserved to us would be by far the most objectionable from +Gregory's alleged point of view may be noted for what it is worth in +favour of the theory of destruction by chance rather than by design. + +Here is the inventory of what we have and of what we might have had. +The entire work of Livy--a work that occupied more than forty years +of his life--was contained in one hundred and forty-two books, which +narrated the history of Rome, from the supposed landing of Æneas, +through the early years of the empire of Augustus, and down to the +death of Drusus, B.C. 9. Books I-X, containing the story of early +Rome to the year 294 B.C., the date of the final subjugation of the +Samnites and the consequent establishment of the Roman commonwealth as +the controlling power in Italy, remain to us. These, by the accepted +chronology, represent a period of four hundred and sixty years. Books +XI-XX, being the second "decade," according to a division attributed +to the fifth century of our era are missing. They covered seventy-five +years, and brought the narrative down to the beginning of the second +Punic war. Books XXI-XLV have been saved, though those of the fifth +"decade" are imperfect. They close with the triumph of Æmilius, in 167 +B.C., and the reduction of Macedonia to a Roman province. Of the other +books, only a few fragments remain, the most interesting of which +(from Book CXX) recounts the death of Cicero, and gives what appears +to be a very just estimate of his character. We have epitomes of all +the lost books, with the exception of ten; but these are so scanty as +to amount to little more than tables of contents. Their probable date +is not later than the time of Trajan. To summarize the result, then, +thirty-five books have been saved and one hundred and seven lost--a +most deplorable record, especially when we consider that in the later +books the historian treated of times and events whereof his means of +knowledge were adequate to his task. + +TITUS LIVIUS was born at Patavium, the modern Padua, some time between +61 and 57 B.C. Of his parentage and early life nothing is known. It +is easy to surmise that he was well born, from his political bias in +favour of the aristocratic party, and from the evident fact of his +having received a liberal education; yet the former of these arguments +is not at all inconsistent with the opposite supposition, and the +latter should lead to no very definite conclusion when we remember +that in his days few industries were more profitable than the higher +education of slaves for the pampered Roman market. Niebuhr infers, +from a sentence quoted by Quintilian, that Livy began life as a +teacher of rhetoric. However that may be, it seems certain that he +came to Rome about 30 B.C., was introduced to Augustus and won his +patronage and favour, and after the death of his great patron and +friend retired to the city of his birth, where he died, 17 A.D. It +is probable that he had fixed the date of the Emperor's death as the +limit of his history, and that his own decease cut short his task. + +No historian ever told a story more delightfully. The available +translations leave much to be desired, but to the student of Latin +Livy's style is pure and simple, and possesses that charm which purity +and simplicity always give. If there is anything to justify the charge +of "Patavinity," or provincialism, made by Asinius Pollio, we, at +least, are not learned enough in Latin to detect it; and Pollio, too, +appears to have been no gentle critic if we may judge by his equally +severe strictures upon Cicero, Cæsar, and Sallust. This much we know: +the Patavian's heroes live; his events happen, and we are carried +along upon their tide. Our sympathies, our indignation, our +enthusiasm, are summoned into being, and history and fiction appear to +walk hand in hand for our instruction and amusement. In this latter +word--fiction--lies the charge most often and most strongly made +against him--the charge that he has written a story and no more; that +with him past time existed but to furnish materials "to point a moral +or adorn a tale." Let us consider to what extent this is true, and, if +true, in what measure the author has sinned by it or we have lost. + +No one would claim that the rules by which scientific historians of +to-day are judged should be applied to those that wrote when history +was young, when the boundaries between the possible and the impossible +were less clearly defined, or when, in fact, such boundaries hardly +existed in men's minds. In this connection, even while we vaunt, we +smile. After all, how much of our modern and so-called scientific +history must strike the reasoning reader as mere theorizing or as +special pleading based upon the slenderest evidence! Among the +ancients the work of the historians whom we consider trustworthy--such +writers, for instance, as Cæsar, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, and +Tacitus--may be said to fall generally within Rawlinson's canons 1 and +2 of historical criticism--that is, (1) cases where the historian has +personal knowledge concerning the facts whereof he writes, or (2) +where the facts are such that he may reasonably be supposed to have +obtained them from contemporary witnesses. Canon 2 might be elaborated +and refined very considerably and perhaps to advantage. It naturally +includes as sources of knowledge--first, personal interviews with +contemporary witnesses; and, second, accesses to the writings of +historians whose opportunities brought them within canon 1. In this +latter case the evidence would be less convincing, owing to the lack +of opportunity to cross-question, though even here apparent lack of +bias or the existence of biased testimony on both sides, from which a +judicious man might have a fair chance to extract the truth, would go +far to cure the defect. + +The point, however, to which I tend is, that the portions of Livy's +history from which we must judge of his trustworthiness treat, for the +most part, of periods concerning which even his evidence was of the +scantiest and poorest description. He doubtless had family records, +funeral panegyrics, and inscription--all of which were possibly almost +as reliable as those of our own day. Songs sung at festivals and +handed down by tradition may or may not be held more truthful. These +he had as well; but the government records, the ancient fasti, had +been destroyed at the time of the burning of the city by the Gauls, +and there is no hint of any Roman historian that lived prior to the +date of the second Punic war. Thus we may safely infer that Livy wrote +of the first five hundred years without the aid of any contemporary +evidence, either approximately complete or ostensibly reliable. With +the beginning of the second Punic war began also the writing of +history. Quintus Fabius Pictor had left a work, which Polybius +condemned on the score of its evident partiality. Lucius Cincius +Alimentus, whose claim to knowledge if not to impartiality rests +largely on the fact that he was captured and held prisoner by +Hannibal, also left memoirs; but Hannibal was not famous for treating +prisoners mildly, and the Romans, most cruel themselves in this +respect, were always deeply scandalized by a much less degree of +harshness on the part of their enemies. Above all, there was Polybius +himself, who perhaps approaches nearer to the critical historian than +any writer of antiquity, and it is Polybius upon whom Livy mainly +relies through his third, fourth, and fifth decades. The works of +Fabius and Cincius are lost. So also are those of the Lacedaemonian +Sosilus and the Sicilian Silanus, who campaigned with Hannibal and +wrote the Carthaginian side of the story; nor is there any evidence +that either Polybius or Livy had access to their writings. Polybius, +then, may be said to be the only reliable source from which Livy could +draw for any of his extant books, and before condemning unqualifiedly +in the cases where he deserts him and harks back to Roman authorities +we must remember that Livy was a strong nationalist, one of a people +who, despite their conquests, were essentially narrow, prejudiced, +egotistical; and, thus remembering, we must marvel that he so fully +recognises the merit of his unprejudiced guide and wanders as little +as he does. All told, it is quite certain that he has dealt more +fairly by Hannibal than have Alison and other English historians by +Napoleon. His unreliability consists rather in his conclusions than in +his facts, and it is unquestioned that through all the pages of +the third decade he has so told the story of the man most hated by +Rome--the deadliest enemy she had ever encountered--that the reader +can not fail to feel the greatness of Hannibal dominating every +chapter. + +Referring again to the criticisms made so lavishly upon Livy's story +of the earlier centuries, it is well to recall the contention of the +hard-headed Scotchman Ferguson, that with all our critical acumen we +have found no sure ground to rest upon until we reach the second Punic +war. Niebuhr, on the other hand, whose German temperament is alike +prone to delve or to theorize, is disposed to think--with considerable +generosity to our abilities, it appears to me--that we may yet evolve +a fairly true history of Rome from the foundation of the commonwealth. +As to the times of the kings, it is admitted that we know nothing, +while from the founding of the commonwealth to the second Punic war +the field may be described as, at the best, but a battle-ground for +rival theories. + +The ancient historian had, as a rule, little to do with such +considerations or controversies. In the lack of solid evidence he had +only to write down the accepted story of the origin of things, as +drawn from the lips of poetry, legend, or tradition, and it was +for Livy to write thus or not at all. Even here the honesty of his +intention is apparent. For much of his early history he does not claim +more than is claimed for it by many of his modern critics, while time +and again he pauses to express a doubt as to the credibility of some +incident. A notable instance of this is found in his criticism of +those stories most dear to the Roman heart--the stories of the birth +and apotheosis of Romulus. On the other hand, if he has given free +life to many beautiful legends that were undoubtedly current and +believed for centuries, is it heresy to avow that these as such seem +to me of more true value to the antiquary than if they had been +subjected at their historical inception to the critical and +theoretical methods of to-day? I can not hold Livy quite unpardonable +even when following, as he often does, such authorities as the Furian +family version of the redemption of the city by the arms of their +progenitor Camillus, instead of by the payment of the agreed ransom, +as modern writers consider proven, while his putting of set speeches +into the mouths of his characters may be described as a conventional +usage of ancient historians, which certainly added to the liveliness +of the narrative and probably was neither intended to be taken +literally nor resulted in deceiving any one. + +Reverting for a moment to Livy's honesty and frankness, so far as his +intent might govern such qualities, I think no stronger evidence in +his favour can be found than his avowed republican leanings at the +court of Augustus and his just estimate of Cicero's character in the +face of the favour of a prince by whose consent the great orator had +been assassinated. Above all, it must have been a fearless and honest +man who could swing the scourge with which he lashed his degenerate +countrymen in those stinging words, "The present times, when we can +endure neither our vices nor their remedies." + +Nevertheless, and despite the facts that Livy means to be honest and +that he questions much on grounds that would not shame the repute of +many of his modern critics, the charge is doubtless true that his +writings are not free from prejudice in favour of his country. That he +definitely regarded history rather as a moral agency and a lesson for +the future than as an irrefutable narrative of the past, I consider +highly hypothetical; but it is probable that his mind was not of the +type that is most diligent in the close, exhaustive, and logical study +so necessary to the historian of today. "Superficial," if we could +eliminate the reproach in the word, would perhaps go far toward +describing him. He is what we would call a popular rather than a +scientific writer, and, since we think somewhat lightly of such when +they write on what we consider scientific subjects, we are too apt to +transfer their light repute to an author who wrote popularly at a time +when this treatment was best adapted to his audience, his aims, and +the material at his command. That he has survived through all these +centuries, and has enjoyed, despite all criticism, the position in +the literature of the world which his very critics have united +in conceding to him, is perhaps a stronger commendation than any +technical approval. + +From the standpoint of the present work it was felt that selections +aggregating seven books would accomplish all the purposes of a +complete presentation. The editors have chosen the first three books +of the first decade as telling what no one can better tell than Livy: +the stories and legends connected with the foundation and early life +of Rome. Here, as I have said, there was nothing for him to do but cut +loose from all trammels and hang breathless, pen in hand, upon the +lips of tradition. None can hold but that her faithful scribe has writ +down her words with all their ancient colour, with reverence reigning +over his heart; however doubts might lurk within his brain. These +books close with the restoration of the consular power, after the +downfall of the tyrannical rule of the Decemvirs, the revolution +following upon the attempt of Appius Claudius to seize Virginia, the +daughter of a citizen who, rather than see his child fall into the +clutches of the cruel patrician, killed her with his own hand in the +marketplace, and, rushing into the camp with the bloody knife, caused +the soldiers to revolt. The second section comprises Books XXI-XXIV, a +part of the narrative of the second Punic war, a military exploit the +most remarkable the world has ever seen. + +The question who was the greatest general that ever lived has been a +fruitful source of discussion, and Alexander, Cæsar, and Napoleon have +each found numerous and ardent supporters. Without decrying the signal +abilities of these chiefs, it must nevertheless be remembered that +each commanded a homogeneous army and had behind him a compact nation +the most warlike and powerful of his time. The adversaries also of the +Greek and the Roman were in the one instance an effete power already +falling to pieces by its own internal weakness, and in the other, for +the most part, scattered tribes of barbarians without unity of purpose +or military discipline. Even in his civil wars Cæsar's armies were +veterans, and those of the commonwealth were, comparatively speaking, +recruits. But when the reader of these pages carefully considers +the story of Hannibal's campaign in Italy, what does he find? Two +nations--one Caucasian, young, warlike above all its contemporaries, +with a record behind it of steady aggrandizement and almost unbroken +victory, a nation every citizen of which was a soldier. On the other +side, a race of merchants Semitic in blood, a city whose citizens had +long since ceased to go to war, preferring that their gold should +fight for them by the hands of mercenaries of every race and +clime--hirelings whose ungoverned valour had proved almost as deadly +to their employers and generals as to their enemies. Above all, the +same battle had been joined before when Rome was weaker and Carthage +stronger, and Carthage had already shown her weakness and Rome her +strength. + +And now in this renewed war we see a young man, aided only by a little +group of compatriots, welding together army of the most heterogeneous +elements--Spaniards, Gauls, Numidians, Moors, Greeks--men of almost +every race except his own. We see him cutting loose from his base of +supplies, leaving enemies behind him, to force his way through +hostile races, through unknown lands bristling with almost impassable +mountains and frigid with snow and ice. We see him conquering here, +making friends and allies there, and, more wonderful than all, holding +his mongrel horde together through hardships and losses by the force +of his character alone. We see him at last descending into the plains +of Italy. We see him not merely defeating but annihilating army after +army more numerous than his own and composed of better raw material. +We see him, unaided, ranging from end to end of the peninsula, none +daring to meet him with opposing standards, and the greatest general +of Rome winning laurels because he knew enough to recognise his own +hopeless inferiority. All stories of reverses other than those of mere +detachments may pretty safely be set down as the exaggeration of Roman +writers. Situated as was Hannibal, the loss of one marshalled field +would have meant immediate ruin, and ruin never came when he fought +in Italy. On the contrary, without supplies save what his sword could +take, without friends save what his genius and his fortune could win, +he maintained his place and his superiority not for one or for two but +through fourteen years, during all which time we hear no murmur +of mutiny, no hint of aught but obedience and devotion among the +incongruous and unruly elements from which he had fashioned his +invincible army; and at the end we see him leaving Italy of his own +free will, at the call of his country, to waste himself in a vain +effort to save her from the blunders of other leaders and from the +penalty of inherent weakness, which only his sword had so long warded +off. + +When I consider the means, the opposition, and the achievement--a +combination of elements by which alone we can judge such questions +with even approximate fairness--I can not but feel that of all +military exploits this invasion of Italy, which we shall read of here, +was the most remarkable; that of all commanders Hannibal has shown +himself to be the greatest. Some of Livy's charges against him as a +man are doubtless true. Avarice was in his blood; and cruelty also, +though it ill became a Roman to chide an enemy on that score. Besides, +Livy himself tells how Hannibal had sought for the bodies of the +generals he had slain, that he might give them the rites of honourable +sepulture; tells it, and in the next breath relates how the Roman +commander mutilated the corpse of the fallen Hasdrubal and threw the +head into his brother's camp. So, too, his naïve explanation that +Hannibal's "more than Punic perfidy" consisted mainly of ambushes +and similar military strategies goes to show, as I have said, that +whatever is unjust in our author's estimate was rather the result of +the prejudiced deductions of national egotism than of facts wilfully +or carelessly distorted by partisan spite. + +To the reader who bears well in mind the points I have ventured to +make, I predict profit hardly less than pleasure in these pages; for +Livy is perhaps the only historian who may be said to have been honest +enough to furnish much of the material for criticism of himself, and +to be, to a very considerable extent, self-adjusting. + +DUFFIELD OSBORNE. + + + +THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE [1] + +Whether in tracing the history of the Roman people, from the +foundation of the city, I shall employ myself to a useful purpose, I +am neither very certain, nor, if I were, dare I say; inasmuch as I +observe that it is both an old and hackneyed practice, later authors +always supposing that they will either adduce something more authentic +in the facts, or, that they will excel the less polished ancients in +their style of writing. Be that as it may, it will, at all events, +be a satisfaction to me that I too have contributed my share to +perpetuate the achievements of a people, the lords of the world; and +if, amid so great a number of historians, my reputation should remain +in obscurity, I may console myself with the celebrity and lustre of +those who shall stand in the way of my fame. Moreover, the subject is +of immense labour, as being one which must be traced back for more +than seven hundred years, and which, having set out from small +beginnings, has increased to such a degree that it is now distressed +by its own magnitude. And, to most readers, I doubt not but that the +first origin and the events immediately succeeding, will afford but +little pleasure, while they will be hastening to these later times, in +which the strength of this overgrown people has for a long period been +working its own destruction. I, on the contrary, shall seek this, as +a reward of my labour, viz., to withdraw myself from the view of the +calamities, which our age has witnessed for so many years, so long as +I am reviewing with my whole attention these ancient times, being free +from every care that may distract a writer's mind, though it can not +warp it from the truth. The traditions that have come down to us of +what happened before the building of the city, or before its building +was contemplated, as being suitable rather to the fictions of poetry +than to the genuine records of history, I have no intention either to +affirm or to refute. This indulgence is conceded to antiquity, that by +blending things human with divine, it may make the origin of cities +appear more venerable: and if any people might be allowed to +consecrate their origin, and to ascribe it to the gods as its authors, +such is the renown of the Roman people in war, that when they +represent Mars, in particular, as their own parent and that of their +founder, the nations of the world may submit to this as patiently +as they submit to their sovereignty. But in whatever way these and +similar matters shall be attended to, or judged of, I shall not +deem it of great importance. I would have every man apply his mind +seriously to consider these points, viz., what their life and what +their manners were; through what men and by what measures, both in +peace and in war, their empire was acquired and extended; then, as +discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their +morals, at first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and +more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, +when we can endure neither our vices nor their remedies. This it is +which is particularly salutary and profitable in the study of history, +that you behold instances of every variety of conduct displayed on a +conspicuous monument; that thence you may select for yourself and for +your country that which you may imitate; thence note what is shameful +in the undertaking, and shameful in the result, which you may avoid. +But either a fond partiality for the task I have undertaken deceives +me, or there never was any state either greater, or more moral, or +richer in good examples, nor one into which luxury and avarice made +their entrance so late, and where poverty and frugality were so much +and so long honoured; so that the less wealth there was, the less +desire was there. Of late, riches have introduced avarice and +excessive pleasures a longing for them, amid luxury and a passion for +ruining ourselves and destroying everything else. But let complaints, +which will not be agreeable even then, when perhaps they will be also +necessary, be kept aloof at least from the first stage of beginning so +great a work. We should rather, if it was usual with us (historians) +as it is with poets, begin with good omens, vows and prayers to the +gods and goddesses to vouchsafe good success to our efforts in so +arduous an undertaking. + +[Footnote 1: The tone of dignified despondency which pervades this +remarkable preface tells us much. That the republican historian was +no timid or time-serving flatterer of prince or public is more than +clear, while his unerring judgment of the future should bring much of +respect for his judgment of the past. When he wrote, Rome was more +powerful than ever. Only the seeds of ruin were visible, yet he +already divines their full fruitage.--D. O.] + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS--B.C. 510 + +Arrival of Æneas in Italy--Ascanius founds Alba Longa--Birth of +Romulus and Remus--Founding the city--Rome under the kings--Death of +Lucretia--Expulsion of the Tarquins--First consuls elected + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH--B.C. 509-468 + +Brutus establishes the republic--A conspiracy to receive the kings +into the city--Death of Brutus--Dedication of the Capitol--Battle of +Lake Regillus--Secession of the commons to the Sacred Mount--Five +tribunes of the people appointed--First proposal of an agrarian +law--Patriotism of the Fabian family--Contests of the plebeians and +patricians + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE--B.C. 468-446 + +Disturbances over the agrarian law--Cincinnatus called from his fields +and made dictator--Number of tribunes increased to ten--Decemvirs +appointed--The ten tables--Tyranny of the decemvirs--Death of +Virginia--Re-establishment of the consular and tribunician power + + + + +LIVY'S ROMAN HISTORY + + +BOOK I[1] + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS + +To begin with, it is generally admitted that, after the taking of +Troy, while all the other Trojans were treated with severity, in the +case of two, Æneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore to exercise the +full rights of war, both on account of an ancient tie of hospitality, +and because they had persistently recommended peace and the +restoration of Helen: and then Antenor, after various vicissitudes, +reached the inmost bay of the Adriatic Sea, accompanied by a body of +the Eneti, who had been driven from Paphlagonia by civil disturbance, +and were in search both of a place of settlement and a leader, their +chief Pylæmenes having perished at Troy; and that the Eneti and +Trojans, having driven out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and +the Alps, occupied these districts. In fact, the place where they +first landed is called Troy, and from this it is named the Trojan +canton. The nation as a whole is called Veneti. It is also agreed that +Æneas, an exile from home owing to a like misfortune, but conducted +by the fates to the founding of a greater empire, came first to +Macedonia, that he was then driven ashore at Sicily in his quest for a +settlement, and sailing thence directed his course to the territory of +Laurentum. This spot also bears the name of Troy. When the Trojans, +having disembarked there, were driving off booty from the country, as +was only natural, seeing that they had nothing left but their arms and +ships after their almost boundless wandering, Latinus the king and the +Aborigines, who then occupied these districts, assembled in arms from +the city and country to repel the violence of the new-comers. In +regard to what followed there is a twofold tradition. Some say that +Latinus, having been defeated in battle, first made peace and then +concluded an alliance with Æneas; others, that when the armies had +taken up their position in order of battle, before the trumpets +sounded, Latinus advanced to the front, and invited the leader of the +strangers to a conference. He then inquired what manner of men they +were, whence they had come, for what reasons they had left their home, +and in quest of what they had landed on Laurentine territory. After +he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief Æneas, the son of +Anchises and Venus, and that, exiled from home, their country having +been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a settlement and a site for +building a city, struck with admiration both at the noble character of +the nation and the hero, and at their spirit, ready alike for peace or +war, he ratified the pledge of future friendship by clasping hands. +Thereupon a treaty was concluded between the chiefs, and mutual +greetings passed between the armies: Æneas was hospitably entertained +at the house of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his +household gods, cemented the public league by a family one, by giving +Æneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans +in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and +permanent settlement. They built a town, which Æneas called Lavinium +after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward also, a son was the +issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the +name of Ascanius. + +Aborigines and Trojans were soon afterward the joint objects of a +hostile attack. Turnus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had +been affianced before the arrival of Æneas, indignant that a stranger +had been preferred to himself, had made war on Æneas and Latinus +together. Neither army came out of the struggle with satisfaction. The +Rutulians were vanquished: the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost +their leader Latinus. Thereupon Turnus and the Rutulians, mistrustful +of their strength, had recourse to the prosperous and powerful +Etruscans, and their king Mezentius, whose seat of government was at +Cære, at that time a flourishing town. Even from the outset he had +viewed with dissatisfaction the founding of a new city, and, as at +that time he considered that the Trojan power was increasing far more +than was altogether consistent with the safety of the neighbouring +peoples, he readily joined his forces in alliance with the Rutulians. +Æneas, to gain the good-will of the Aborigines in face of a war so +serious and alarming, and in order that they might all be not only +under the same laws but might also bear the same name, called both +nations Latins. In fact, subsequently, the Aborigines were not behind +the Trojans in zeal and loyalty toward their king Æneas. Accordingly, +in full reliance on this state of mind of the two nations, who were +daily becoming more and more united, and in spite of the fact that +Etruria was so powerful, that at this time it had filled with the fame +of its renown not only the land but the sea also, throughout the whole +length of Italy from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, Æneas led out +his forces into the field, although he might have repelled their +attack by means of his fortifications. Thereupon a battle was fought, +in which victory rested with the Latins, but for Æneas it was even the +last of his acts on earth. He, by whatever name laws human and divine +demand he should be called, was buried on the banks of the river +Numicus: they call him Jupiter Indiges. + +Ascanius, the son of Æneas, was not yet old enough to rule; the +government, however, remained unassailed for him till he reached the +age of maturity. In the interim, under the regency of a woman--so +great was Lavinia's capacity--the Latin state and the boy's kingdom, +inherited from his father and grandfather, was secured for him. I will +not discuss the question--for who can state as certain a matter of +such antiquity?--whether it was this Ascanius, or one older than +he, born of Creusa, before the fall of Troy, and subsequently the +companion of his father's flight, the same whom, under the name of +Iulus, the Julian family represents to be the founder of its name. +Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever +mother--it is at any rate agreed that his father was Æneas--seeing +that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now a flourishing +and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, +and built himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, +from its situation, being built all along the ridge of a hill, was +called Alba Longa. + +There was an interval of about thirty years between the founding of +Lavinium and the transplanting of the colony to Alba Longa. Yet its +power had increased to such a degree, especially owing to the +defeat of the Etruscans, that not even on the death of Æneas, nor +subsequently between the period of the regency of Lavinia, and the +first beginnings of the young prince's reign, did either Mezentius, +the Etruscans, or any other neighbouring peoples venture to take up +arms against it. Peace had been concluded on the following terms, that +the river Albula, which is now called Tiber, should be the boundary of +Latin and Etruscan territory. After him Silvius, son of Ascanius, born +by some accident in the woods, became king. He was the father of Æneas +Silvius, who afterward begot Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies +were transplanted, which were called Prisci Latini. From this time +all the princes, who ruled at Alba, bore the surname of Silvius. From +Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys; from Capys, +Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, having been drowned while +crossing the river Albula, gave it the name by which it was generally +known among those of later times. He was succeeded by Agrippa, son +of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, having received +the government from his father, became king. He was killed by a +thunderbolt, and handed on the kingdom to Aventinus, who, owing to his +being buried on that hill, which now forms part of the city of Rome, +gave it its name. After him reigned Proca, who begot Numitor and +Amulius. To Numitor, who was the eldest son, he bequeathed the ancient +kingdom of the Silvian family. Force, however, prevailed more than a +father's wish or the respect due to seniority. Amulius drove out his +brother and seized the kingdom: he added crime to crime, murdered +his brother's male issue, and, under pretence of doing honour to his +brother's daughter, Rea Silvia, having chosen her a Vestal Virgin,[2] +deprived her of all hopes of issue by the obligation of perpetual +virginity. + +My opinion, however, is that the origin of so great a city and an +empire next in power to that of the gods was due to the fates. The +Vestal Rea was ravished by force, and having brought forth twins, +declared Mars to be the father of her illegitimate offspring, either +because she really imagined it to be the case, or because it was less +discreditable to have committed such an offence with a god.[3] But +neither gods nor men protected either her or her offspring from the +king's cruelty. The priestess was bound and cast into prison; the king +ordered the children to be thrown into the flowing river. By some +chance which Providence seemed to direct, the Tiber, having over flown +its banks, thereby forming stagnant pools, could not be approached at +the regular course of its channel; notwithstanding it gave the bearers +of the children hope that they could be drowned in its water however +calm. Accordingly, as if they had executed the king's orders, they +exposed the boys in the nearest land-pool, where now stands the ficus +Ruminalis, which they say was called Romularis.[4] At that time the +country in those parts was a desolate wilderness. The story goes, that +when the shallow water, subsiding, had left the floating trough, in +which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf +from the mountains around directed her course toward the cries of the +infants, and held down her teats to them with such gentleness, that +the keeper of the king's herd found her licking the boys with her +tongue. They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were +carried by him to his homestead and given to his wife Larentia to be +brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called Lupa +among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an +opening was afforded for the marvellous story. The children, thus born +and thus brought up, as soon as they reached the age of youth, did +not lead a life of inactivity at home or amid the flocks, but, in the +chase, scoured the forests. Having thus gained strength, both in body +and spirit, they now were not only able to withstand wild beasts, but +attacked robbers laden with booty, and divided the spoils with the +shepherds, in whose company, as the number of their young associates +increased daily, they carried on business and pleasure. + +Even in these early times it is said that the festival of the +Lupercal, as now celebrated, was solemnized on the Palatine Hill, +which was first called Pallantium, from Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, +and afterward Mount Palatius. There Evander, who, belonging to the +above tribe of the Arcadians, had for many years before occupied +these districts, is said to have appointed the observance of a solemn +festival, introduced from Arcadia, in which naked youths ran about +doing honour in wanton sport to Pan Lycæus, who was afterward called +Inuus by the Romans. When they were engaged in this festival, as its +periodical solemnization was well known, a band of robbers, enraged at +the loss of some booty, lay in wait for them, and took Remus prisoner, +Romulus having vigorously defended himself: the captive Remus they +delivered up to King Amulius, and even went so far as to bring +accusations against him. They made it the principal charge that having +made incursions into Numitor's lands, and, having assembled a band +of young men, they had driven off their booty after the manner +of enemies. Accordingly, Remus was delivered up to Numitor for +punishment. Now from the very first Faustulus had entertained hopes +that the boys who were being brought up by him, were of royal blood: +for he both knew that the children had been exposed by the king's +orders, and that the time, at which he had taken them up, coincided +exactly with that period: but he had been unwilling to disclose +the matter, as yet not ripe for discovery, till either a fitting +opportunity or the necessity for it should arise. Necessity came +first. Accordingly, urged by fear, he disclosed the whole affair to +Romulus. By accident also, Numitor, while he had Remus in custody, +having heard that the brothers were twins, by comparing their age and +their natural disposition entirely free from servility, felt his mind +struck by the recollection of his grandchildren, and by frequent +inquiries came to the conclusion he had already formed, so that he +was not far from openly acknowledging Remus. Accordingly a plot was +concerted against the king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a +body of young men--for he was not equal to open violence--but having +commanded the shepherds to come to the palace by different roads at +a fixed time, made an attack upon the king, while Remus, having got +together another party from Numitor's house, came to his assistance; +and so they slew the king. + +Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, giving out that enemies had +invaded the city and attacked the palace, after he had drawn off the +Alban youth to the citadel to secure it with an armed garrison, when +he saw the young men, after they had compassed the king's death, +advancing toward him to offer congratulations, immediately summoned a +meeting of the people, and recounted his brother's unnatural behaviour +toward him, the extraction of his grandchildren, the manner of their +birth, bringing up, and recognition, and went on to inform them of the +king's death, and that he was responsible for it. The young princes +advanced through the midst of the assembly with their band in orderly +array, and, after they had saluted their grandfather as king, a +succeeding shout of approbation, issuing from the whole multitude, +ratified for him the name and authority of sovereign. The government +of Alba being thus intrusted to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized +with the desire of building a city on the spot where they had been +exposed and brought up. Indeed, the number of Alban and Latin +inhabitants was too great for the city; the shepherds also were +included among that population, and all these readily inspired hopes +that Alba and Lavinium would be insignificant in comparison with that +city, which was intended to be built. But desire of rule, the bane +of their grandfather, interrupted these designs, and thence arose a +shameful quarrel from a sufficiently amicable beginning. For as they +were twins, and consequently the respect for seniority could not +settle the point, they agreed to leave it to the gods, under whose +protection the place was, to choose by augury which of them should +give a name to the new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose +the Palatine and Remus the Aventine, as points of observation for +taking the auguries. + +It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and +when, after the omen had been declared, twice that number presented +themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own party, the +former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the +latter on account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and +exchanged angry words, from the strife of angry feelings they turned +to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the crowd. A +more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped +over the newly-erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in +a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:" +So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus +Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The +city, when built, was called after the name of its founder.[5] He +first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he himself had +been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the +Grecian rite, as they had been instituted by Evander; to the other +gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a tradition that Hercules, +having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing +beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the +banks of the river Tiber, where he had swam across, driving the cattle +before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant pasture, being +also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had +overpowered him, heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who +dwelt in the neighbourhood, by name Cacus, priding himself on his +strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to carry +them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of +him to the cave, their tracks must have conducted their owner thither +in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of them by their tails +backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having +looked over his herd and observed that some of their number were +missing, went straight to the nearest cave, to see whether perchance +their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned away +from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what +to make up his mind to do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so +dangerous a spot. Thereupon some of the cows that were driven away, +lowed, as they usually do, when they missed those that were left; and +the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from +the cave, caused Hercules to turn round. And when Cacus attempted +to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the cave, he was +struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds +to assist him. At that time Evander, who was an exile from the +Peloponnesus, governed the country more by his personal ascendancy +than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account +of the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men +ignorant of accomplishments,[7] and still more revered on account of +the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those peoples had +marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy. +This Evander, roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they +hastily crowded round the stranger, who was charged with open murder, +after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it, gazing +upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more +dignified and majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon +as he heard the name of the hero, and that of his father and native +country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother, +truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that +thou art destined to increase the number of the heavenly beings, and +that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee, which in after +ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in +accordance with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him +his right hand, declared that he accepted the prophetic intimation, +and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and +dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was +offered to Hercules with a choice heifer taken from the herd, the +Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished families who then +inhabited those parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so +happened that the Potitii presented themselves in due time and the +entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until +the entrails had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast. +From that time it became a settled institution, that, as long as the +Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of +the sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instructed by Evander, +discharged the duties of chief priests of this sacred function +for many generations, until their whole race became extinct, in +consequence of this office, the solemn prerogative of their family, +being delegated to public slaves. These were the only religious rites +that Romulus at that time adopted from those of foreign countries, +being even then an advocate of immortality won by merit, to which the +destiny marked out for him was conducting him. + +The duties of religion having been thus duly completed, the people +were summoned to a public meeting: and, as they could not be united +and incorporated into one body by any other means save legal +ordinances, Romulus gave them a code of laws: and, judging that these +would only be respected by a nation of rustics, if he dignified +himself with the insignia of royalty, he clothed himself with greater +majesty--above all, by taking twelve lictors to attend him, but also +in regard to his other appointments. Some are of opinion that he was +influenced in his choice of that number by that of the birds which had +foretold that sovereign power should be his when the auguries were +taken. I myself am not indisposed to follow the opinion of those, +who are inclined to believe that it was from the neighbouring +Etruscans--from whom the curule chair and purple-bordered toga were +borrowed--that the apparitors of this class, as well as the number +itself, were introduced: and that the Etruscans employed such a number +because, as their king was elected from twelve states in common, each +state assigned him one lictor. + +In the meantime, the city was enlarged by taking in various plots of +ground for the erection of buildings, while they built rather in the +hope of an increased population in the future, than in view of the +actual number of the inhabitants of the city at that time. Next, that +the size of the city might not be without efficiency, in order to +increase the population, following the ancient policy of founders of +cities, who, by bringing together to their side a mean and ignoble +multitude, were in the habit of falsely asserting that an offspring +was born to them from the earth, he opened as a sanctuary the place +which, now inclosed, is known as the "two groves," and which people +come upon when descending from the Capitol. Thither, a crowd of all +classes from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction, whether +freemen or slaves, eager for change, flocked for refuge, and therein +lay the foundation of the city's strength, corresponding to the +commencement of its enlargement. Having now no reason to be +dissatisfied with his strength, he next instituted a standing council +to direct that strength. He created one hundred senators, either +because that number was sufficient, or because there were only one +hundred who could be so elected. Anyhow they were called fathers[8], +by way of respect, and their descendants patricians. + +By this time the Roman state was so powerful, that it was a match for +any of the neighbouring states in war: but owing to the scarcity of +women its greatness was not likely to outlast the existing generation, +seeing that the Romans had no hope of issue at home, and they did +not intermarry with their neighbours. So then, by the advice of the +senators, Romulus sent around ambassadors to the neighbouring states, +to solicit an alliance and the right of intermarriage for his new +subjects, saying, that cities, like everything else, rose from the +humblest beginnings: next, that those which the gods and their own +merits assisted, gained for themselves great power and high renown: +that he knew full well that the gods had aided the first beginnings of +Rome and that merit on their part would not be wanting: therefore, as +men, let them not be reluctant to mix their blood and stock with men. +The embassy nowhere obtained a favourable hearing: but, although the +neighbouring peoples treated it with such contempt, yet at the same +time they dreaded the growth of such a mighty power in their midst to +the danger of themselves and of their posterity. In most cases when +they were dismissed they were asked the question, whether they had +opened a sanctuary for women also: for that in that way only could +they obtain suitable matches. + +The Roman youths were bitterly indignant at this, and the matter began +unmistakably to point to open violence. Romulus in order to provide a +fitting opportunity and place for this, dissembling his resentment, +with this purpose in view, instituted games to be solemnized every +year in honour of Neptunus Equester, which he called Consualia. He +then ordered the show to be proclaimed among the neighbouring peoples; +and the Romans prepared to solemnize it with all the pomp with which +they were then acquainted or were able to exhibit, in order to make +the spectacle famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers +assembled, being also desirous of seeing the new city, especially all +the nearest peoples, the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates: the +entire Sabine population attended with their wives and children. They +were hospitably invited to the different houses: and, when they saw +the position of the city, its fortified walls, and how crowded with +houses it was, they were astonished that the power of Rome had +increased so rapidly. When the time of the show arrived, and their +eyes and minds alike were intent upon it, then, according to +preconcerted arrangement, a disturbance was made, and, at a given +signal, the Roman youths rushed in different directions to carry off +the unmarried women. A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, by +those into whose hands they severally fell: some of the common people, +to whom the task had been assigned, conveyed to their homes certain +women of surpassing beauty, who were destined for the leading +senators. They say that one, far distinguished beyond the rest in form +and beauty, was carried off by the party of a certain Talassius, and +that, when several people wanted to know to whom they were carrying +her, a cry was raised from time to time, to prevent her being +molested, that she was being carried to Talassius: and that from this +the word was used in connection with marriages. The festival being +disturbed by the alarm thus caused, the sorrowing parents of the +maidens retired, complaining of the violated compact of hospitality, +and invoking the god, to whose solemn festival and games they had +come, having been deceived by the pretence of religion and good faith. +Nor did the maidens entertain better hopes for themselves, or feel +less indignation. Romulus, however, went about in person and pointed +out that what had happened was due to the pride of their fathers, +in that they had refused the privilege of intermarriage to their +neighbours; but that, notwithstanding, they would be lawfully wedded, +and enjoy a share of all their possessions and civil rights, and--a +thing dearer than all else to the human race--the society of their +common children: only let them calm their angry feelings, and bestow +their affections on those on whom fortune had bestowed their bodies. +Esteem (said he) often arose subsequent to wrong: and they would find +them better husbands for the reason that each of them would endeavour, +to the utmost of his power, after having discharged, as far as his +part was concerned, the duty of a husband, to quiet the longing for +country and parents. To this the blandishments of the husbands were +added, who excused what had been done on the plea of passion and love, +a form of entreaty that works most successfully upon the feelings of +women.[9] + +By this time the minds of the maidens were considerably soothed, but +their parents, especially by putting on the garb of mourning, and by +their tears and complaints, stirred up the neighbouring states. Nor +did they confine their feelings of indignation to their own home +only, but they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the +Sabines, and embassies crowded thither, because the name of Tatius +was held in the greatest esteem in those quarters. The Caeninenses, +Crustumini, and Antemnates were the people who were chiefly affected +by the outrage. As Tatius and the Sabines appeared to them to be +acting in too dilatory a manner, these three peoples by mutual +agreement among themselves made preparations for war unaided. However, +not even the Crustumini and Antemnates bestirred themselves with +sufficient activity to satisfy the hot-headedness and anger of the +Caeninenses: accordingly the people of Caenina, unaided, themselves +attacked the Roman territory. But Romulus with his army met them +while they were ravaging the country in straggling parties, and in +a trifling engagement convinced them that anger unaccompanied by +strength is fruitless. He routed their army and put it to flight, +followed in pursuit of it when routed, cut down their king in battle +and stripped him of his armour, and, having slain the enemy's leader, +took the city at the first assault. Then, having led back his +victorious army, being a man both distinguished for his achievements, +and one equally skilful at putting them in the most favourable light, +he ascended the Capitol, carrying suspended on a portable frame, +cleverly contrived for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's +general, whom he had slain: there, having laid them down at the foot +of an oak held sacred by the shepherds, at the same time that he +presented the offering, he marked out the boundaries for a temple of +Jupiter, and bestowed a surname on the god. "Jupiter Feretrius," said +he, "I, King Romulus, victorious over my foes, offer to thee these +royal arms, and dedicate to thee a temple within those quarters, which +I have just now marked out in my mind, to be a resting-place for the +spolia opima, which posterity, following my example, shall bring +hither on slaying the kings or generals of the enemy." This is the +origin of that temple, the first that was ever consecrated at Rome. It +was afterward the will of the gods that neither the utterances of +the founder of the temple, in which he solemnly declared that his +posterity would bring such spoils thither, should be spoken in vain, +and that the honour of the offering should not be rendered common +owing to the number of those who enjoyed it. In the course of so many +years and so many wars the spolia opima were only twice gained: so +rare has been the successful attainment of this honour.[10] + +While the Romans were thus engaged in those parts, the army of the +Antemnates made a hostile attack upon the Roman territories, seizing +the opportunity when they were left unguarded. Against these in like +manner a Roman legion was led out in haste and surprised them while +straggling in the country. Thus the enemy were routed at the first +shout and charge: their town was taken: Romulus, amid his rejoicings +at this double victory, was entreated by his wife Hersilia, in +consequence of the importunities of the captured women, to pardon +their fathers and admit them to the privileges of citizenship; that +the commonwealth could thus be knit together by reconciliation. +The request was readily granted. After that he set out against the +Crustumini, who were beginning hostilities: in their case, as their +courage had been damped by the disasters of others, the struggle was +less keen. Colonies were sent to both places: more, however, were +found to give in their names for Crustuminum, because of the fertility +of the soil. Great numbers also migrated from thence to Rome, chiefly +of the parents and relatives of the women who had been carried off. + +The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines, and this was by far +the most formidable: for nothing was done under the influence of anger +or covetousness, nor did they give indications of hostilities before +they had actually begun them. Cunning also was combined with prudence. +Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the Roman citadel: his maiden +daughter, who at the time had gone by chance outside the walls to +fetch water for sacrifice, was bribed by Tatius, to admit some armed +soldiers into the citadel. After they were admitted, they crushed her +to death by heaping their arms upon her: either that the citadel might +rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for the sake of setting +forth a warning, that faith should never on any occasion be kept with +a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the +Sabines usually wore golden bracelets of great weight on their left +arm and rings of great beauty set with precious stones, she bargained +with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore +shields were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say +that, in accordance with the agreement that they should deliver up +what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded their shields, +and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was +slain by the reward she had chosen for herself. + +Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day, +when the Roman army, drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the +valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, they did not descend +from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by resentment +and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced up hill to meet +them. The chiefs on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side +of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of the Romans Hostius +Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on unfavourable +ground, supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and +boldness. When Hostius fell, the Roman line immediately gave way, +and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the Palatium. +Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried, +uplifting his arms to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy +omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first foundations for the +city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the +Sabines: thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the +valley between. But do thou, O father of gods and men, keep back the +enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the Romans, and check +their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee +as Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has +been preserved by thy ready aid." Having offered up these prayers, +as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this +position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and +renew the fight." The Romans halted as if ordered by a voice from +heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius Curtius, on the +side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of +his troops and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole +space of ground where the Forum now is. He had almost reached the +gate of the Palatium, crying out: "We have conquered our perfidious +friends, our cowardly foes: now they know that fighting with men is a +very different thing from ravishing maidens." Upon him, as he uttered +these boasts, Romulus made an attack with a band of his bravest +youths. Mettius then happened to be fighting on horseback: on that +account his repulse was easier. When he was driven back, the Romans +followed in pursuit: and the remainder of the Roman army, fired by the +bravery of the king, routed the Sabines. Mettius, his horse taking +fright at the noise of his pursuers, rode headlong into a morass: this +circumstance drew off the attention of the Sabines also at the danger +of so high a personage. He indeed, his own party beckoning and calling +to him, gaining heart from the encouraging shouts of many of his +friends, made good his escape. The Romans and Sabines renewed the +battle in the valley between the two hills: but the advantage rested +with the Romans. + +At this crisis the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war had +arisen, with dishevelled hair and torn garments, the timidity natural +to women being overcome by the sense of their calamities, were +emboldened to fling themselves into the midst of the flying weapons, +and, rushing across, to part the incensed combatants and assuage their +wrath: imploring their fathers on the one hand and their husbands +on the other, as fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, not to besprinkle +themselves with impious blood, nor to fix the stain of murder on their +offspring, the one side on their grandchildren, the other on their +children. "If," said they, "you are dissatisfied with the relationship +between you, and with our marriage, turn your resentment against us; +it is we who are the cause of war, of wounds and bloodshed to our +husbands and parents: it will be better for us to perish than to +live widowed or orphans without one or other of you." This incident +affected both the people and the leaders; silence and sudden quiet +followed; the leaders thereupon came forward to conclude a treaty; +and not only concluded a peace, but formed one state out of two. They +united the kingly power, but transferred the entire sovereignty to +Rome. Rome having thus been made a double state, that some benefit at +least might be conferred on the Sabines, they were called Quirites +from Cures. To serve as a memorial of that battle, they called the +place--where Curtius, after having emerged from the deep morass, set +his horse in shallow water--the Lacus Curtius.[11] + +This welcome peace, following suddenly on so melancholy a war, +endeared the Sabine women still more to their husbands and parents, +and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when dividing the +people into thirty curiae, he called the curiae after their names. +While the number of the women were undoubtedly considerably greater +than this, it is not recorded whether they were chosen for their age, +their own rank or that of their husbands, or by lot, to give names +to the curiae. At the same time also three centuries of knights were +enrolled: the Ramnenses were so called from Romulus, the Titienses +from Titus Tatius: in regard to the Luceres, the meaning of the name +and its origin is uncertain.[12] From that time forward the two kings +enjoyed the regal power not only in common, but also in perfect +harmony. + +Several years afterward, some relatives of King Tatius ill-treated +the Ambassadors of the Laurentines, and on the Laurentines beginning +proceedings according to the rights of nations, the influence and +entreaties of his friends had more weight with Tatius. In this manner +he drew upon himself the punishment that should have fallen upon them: +for, having gone to Lavinium on the occasion of a regularly recurring +sacrifice, he was slain in a disturbance which took place there. They +say that Romulus resented this less than the event demanded, either +because partnership in sovereign power is never cordially kept up, or +because he thought that he had been deservedly slain. Accordingly, +while he abstained from going to war, the treaty between the cities +of Rome and Lavinium was renewed, that at any rate the wrongs of the +ambassadors and the murder of the king might be expiated. + +With these people, indeed, there was peace contrary to expectations: +but another war broke out much nearer home and almost at the city's +gates. The Fidenates,[13] being of opinion that a power in too close +proximity to themselves was gaining strength, hastened to make war +before the power of the Romans should attain the greatness it was +evidently destined to reach. An armed band of youths was sent into +Roman territory and all the territories between the city and the +Fidenae was ravaged. Then, turning to the left, because on the right +the Tiber was a barrier against them, they continued to ravage the +country, to the great consternation of the peasantry: the sudden +alarm, reaching the city from the country, was the first announcement +of the invasion. Romulus aroused by this--for a war so near home could +not brook delay--led out his army, and pitched his camp a mile from +Fidenae. Having left a small garrison there, he marched out with all +his forces and gave orders that a part of them should lie in ambush in +a spot hidden amid bushes planted thickly around; he himself advancing +with the greater part of the infantry and all the cavalry, by riding +up almost to the very gates, drew out the enemy--which was just what +he wanted--by a mode of battle of a disorderly and threatening nature. +The same tactics on the part of the cavalry caused the flight, which +it was necessary to pretend, to appear less surprising: and when, as +the cavalry appeared undecided whether to make up its mind to fight or +flee, the infantry also retreated--the enemy, pouring forth suddenly +through the crowded gates, were drawn toward the place of ambuscade, +in their eagerness to press on and pursue, after they had broken the +Roman line. Thereupon the Romans, suddenly arising, attacked the +enemy's line in flanks; the advance from the camp of the standards of +those, who had been left behind on guard, increased the panic: thus +the Fidenates, smitten with terror from many quarters, took to flight +almost before Romulus and the cavalry who accompanied him could wheel +round: and those who a little before had been in pursuit of men who +pretended flight, made for the town again in much greater disorder, +seeing that their flight was real. They did not, however, escape the +foe: the Romans, pressing closely on their rear, rushed in as if it +were in one body, before the doors of the gates could be shut against +them. + +The minds of the inhabitants of Veii,[14] being exasperated by the +infectious influence of the Fidenatian war, both from the tie of +kinship--for the Fidenates also were Etruscans--and because the very +proximity of the scene of action, in the event of the Roman arms being +directed against all their neighbours, urged them on, they sallied +forth into the Roman territories, rather with the object of plundering +than after the manner of a regular war. Accordingly, without pitching +a camp, or waiting for the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, taking +with them the booty they had carried off from the lands; the Roman +army, on the other hand, when they did not find the enemy in the +country, being ready and eager for a decisive action, crossed the +Tiber. And when the Veientes heard that they were pitching a camp, and +intended to advance to the city, they came out to meet them that they +might rather decide the matter in the open field, than be shut up and +have to fight from their houses and walls. In this engagement the +Roman king gained the victory, his power being unassisted by any +stratagem, by the unaided strength of his veteran army: and having +pursued the routed enemies up to their walls, he refrained from +attacking the city, which was strongly fortified and well defended +by its natural advantages: on his return he laid waste their lands, +rather from a desire of revenge than of booty. The Veientes, humbled +by that loss no less than by the unsuccessful issue of the battle, +sent ambassadors to Rome to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred +years was granted them, after they had been mulcted in a part of their +territory. These were essentially the chief events of the reign of +Romulus, in peace and in war, none of which seemed inconsistent with +the belief of his divine origin, or of his deification after death, +neither the spirit he showed in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, +nor his wisdom in building a city, and afterward strengthening it by +the arts of war and peace. For assuredly it was by the power that +Romulus gave it that it became so powerful, that for forty years after +it enjoyed unbroken peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than +to the fathers: above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers: +of these he kept three hundred, whom he called Celeres, armed to serve +as a body-guard not only in time of war but also of peace. + +Having accomplished these works deserving of immortality, while he was +holding an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain +near the Goat's pool, a storm suddenly came on, accompanied by loud +thunder and lightning, and enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that +it entirely hid him from the sight of the assembly. After this Romulus +was never seen again upon earth. The feeling of consternation having +at length calmed down, and the weather having become clear and fine +again after so stormy a day, the Roman youth seeing the royal seat +empty--though they readily believed the words of the fathers who +had stood nearest him, that he had been carried up to heaven by the +storm--yet, struck as it were with the fear of being fatherless, for a +considerable time preserved a sorrowful silence. Then, after a few had +set the example, the whole multitude saluted Romulus as a god, the son +of a god, the king and parent of the Roman city; they implored his +favour with prayers, that with gracious kindness he would always +preserve his offspring. I believe that even then there were some, who +in secret were convinced that the king had been torn in pieces by the +hands of the fathers--for this rumour also spread, but it was very +doubtfully received; admiration for the man, however, and the awe felt +at the moment, gave greater notoriety to the other report. Also by the +clever idea of one individual, additional confirmation is said to have +been attached to the occurrence. For Proculus Julius, while the state +was still troubled at the loss of the king, and incensed against the +senators, a weighty authority, as we are told, in any matter however +important, came forward into the assembly. "Quirites," said he, +"Romulus, the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, +appeared to me this day at daybreak. While I stood filled with dread, +and religious awe, beseeching him to allow me to look upon him face to +face, 'Go,' said he, 'tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that +my Rome should become the capital of the world. Therefore let them +cultivate the art of war, and let them know and so hand it down to +posterity, that no human power can withstand the Roman arms.' Having +said this, he vanished up to heaven." It is surprising what credit was +given to that person when he made the announcement, and how much the +regret of the common people and army for the loss of Romulus was +assuaged when the certainty of his immortality was confirmed.[15] + +Meanwhile[16] contention for the throne and ambition engaged the minds +of the fathers; the struggle was not as yet carried on by individuals, +by violence or contending factions, because, among a new people, no +one person was pre-eminently distinguished; the contest was carried on +between the different orders. The descendants of the Sabines wished a +king to be elected from their own body, lest, because there had been +no king from their own party since the death of Tatius, they might +lose their claim to the crown although both were on an equal footing. +The old Romans spurned the idea of a foreign prince. Amid this +diversity of views, however, all were anxious to be under the +government of a king, as they had not yet experienced the delights of +liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest, as the minds of many +surrounding states were incensed against them, some foreign power +should attack the state, now without a government, and the army, now +without a leader. Therefore, although they were agreed that there +should be some head, yet none could bring himself to give way to +another. Accordingly, the hundred senators divided the government +among themselves, ten decuries being formed, and the individual +members who were to have the chief direction of affairs being chosen +into each decury.[17] Ten governed; one only was attended by the +lictors and with the insignia of authority: their power was limited to +the space of five days, and conferred upon all in rotation, and the +interval between the government of a king lasted a year. From this +fact it was called an interregnum, a term which is employed even now. +Then the people began to murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, +and that they had now a hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they +seemed determined to submit to no authority but that of a king, and +that one appointed by themselves. When the fathers perceived that such +schemes were on foot, thinking it advisable to offer them, without +being asked, what they were sure to lose, they conciliated the +good-will of the people by yielding to them the supreme power, yet in +such a manner as to surrender no greater privilege than they reserved +to themselves. For they decreed, that when the people had chosen a +king, the election should be valid, if the senate gave the sanction of +their authority. And even to this day the same forms are observed in +proposing laws and magistrates, though their power has been taken +away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators ratify their +choice, even while the result of the elections is still uncertain. +Then the interrex, having summoned an assembly of the people, +addressed them as follows: "Do you, Quirites, choose yourselves a +king, and may this choice prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious; such +is the will of the fathers. Then, if you shall choose a prince worthy +to be reckoned next after Romulus, the fathers will ratify your +choice." This concession was so pleasing to the people, that, not to +appear outdone in generosity, they only voted and ordained that the +senate should determine who should be king at Rome. + +The justice and piety of Numa Pompilius was at that time celebrated. +He dwelt at Cures, a city of the Sabines, and was as eminently learned +in all law, human and divine, as any man could be in that age. They +falsely represent that Pythagoras of Samos was his instructor in +learning, because there appears no other. Now it is certain that this +philosopher, in the reign of Servius Tullius, more than a hundred +years after this, held assemblies of young men, who eagerly +embraced his doctrines, on the most distant shore of Italy, in the +neighbourhood of Metapontum, Heraclea, and Croton. But from these +places, even had he flourished in the same age, what fame of his could +have reached the Sabines? or by what intercourse of language could it +have aroused any one to a desire of learning? Or by what safeguard +could a single man have passed through the midst of so many nations +differing in language and customs? I am therefore rather inclined to +believe that his mind, owing to his natural bent, was attempered by +virtuous qualities, and that he was not so much versed in foreign +systems of philosophy as in the stern and gloomy training of the +ancient Sabines, a race than which none was in former times more +strict. When they heard the name of Numa, although the Roman fathers +perceived that the balance of power would incline to the Sabines if +a king were chosen from them, yet none of them ventured to prefer +himself, or any other member of his party, or, in fine, any of the +citizens or fathers, to a man so well known, but unanimously resolved +that the kingdom should be offered to Numa Pompilius. Being sent for, +just as Romulus obtained the throne by the augury in accordance with +which he founded the city, so Numa in like manner commanded the gods +to be consulted concerning himself. Upon this, being escorted into the +citadel by an augur, to whose profession that office was later made +a public and perpetual one by way of honour, he sat down on a stone +facing the south: the augur took his seaton his left hand with his +head covered, holding in his right a crooked wand free from knots, +called lituus; then, after having taken a view over the city and +country, and offered a prayer to the gods, he defined the bounds of +the regions of the sky from east to west: the parts toward the south +he called the right, those toward the north, the left; and in front of +him he marked out in his mind the sign as far as ever his eyes could +see. Then having shifted the lituus into his left hand, and placed +his right on the head of Numa, he prayed after this manner: "O father +Jupiter, if it be thy will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I +hold, be king of Rome, mayest thou manifest infallible signs to us +within those bounds which I have marked." Then he stated in set terms +the auspices which he wished to be sent: on their being sent, Numa was +declared king and came down from the seat of augury. + +Having thus obtained the kingdom, he set about establishing anew, on +the principles of law and morality, the newly founded city that had +been already established by force of arms. When he saw that the +inhabitants, inasmuch as men's minds are brutalized by military life, +could not become reconciled to such principles during the continuance +of wars, considering that the savage nature of the people must +be toned down by the disuse of arms, he erected at the foot of +Argiletum[18] a temple of Janus, as a sign of peace and war, that when +open, it might show that the state was engaged in war, and when shut, +that all the surrounding nations were at peace. Twice only since the +reign of Numa has this temple been shut: once when Titus Manlius was +consul, after the conclusion of the first Punic war; and a second +time, which the gods granted our generation to behold, by the Emperor +Cæsar Augustus, after the battle of Actium, when peace was established +by land and sea. This being shut, after he had secured the friendship +of all the neighbouring states around by alliance and treaties, all +anxiety regarding dangers from abroad being now removed, in order to +prevent their minds, which the fear of enemies and military discipline +had kept in check, running riot from too much leisure, he considered, +that, first of all, awe of the gods should be instilled into them, +a principle of the greatest efficacy in dealing with the multitude, +ignorant and uncivilized as it was in those times. But as this fear +could not sink deeply into their minds without some fiction of a +miracle, he pretended that he held nightly interviews with the goddess +Egeria; that by her direction he instituted sacred rites such as would +be most acceptable to the gods, and appointed their own priests for +each of the deities. And, first of all, he divided the year into +twelve months, according to the courses of the moon;[19] and because +the moon does not fill up the number of thirty days in each month, and +some days are wanting to the complete year, which is brought round by +the solstitial revolution, he so regulated this year, by inserting +intercalary months, that every twentieth year, the lengths of all the +intermediate years being filled up, the days corresponded with the +same starting-point of the sun whence they had set out. He likewise +divided days into sacred and profane, because on certain occasions it +was likely to be expedient that no business should be transacted with +the people. + +Next he turned his attention to the appointment of priests, though he +discharged many sacred functions himself, especially those which now +belong to the flamen of Jupiter. But, as he imagined that in a warlike +nation there would be more kings resembling Romulus than Numa, +and that they would go to war in person, in order that the sacred +functions of the royal office might not be neglected, he appointed a +perpetual priest as flamen to Jupiter, and distinguished him by a fine +robe, and a royal curule chair. To him he added two other flamens, one +for Mars, another for Quirinus. He also chose virgins for Vesta, a +priesthood derived from Alba, and not foreign to the family of the +founder. That they might be constant attendants in the temple, he +appointed them pay out of the public treasury; and by enjoining +virginity, and various religious observances, he made them sacred and +venerable. He also chose twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus, and gave them +the distinction of an embroidered tunic, and over the tunic a brazen +covering for the breast. He commanded them to carry the shields called +Ancilia,[20] which fell fromheaven, and to go through the city singing +songs, with leaping and solemn dancing. Then he chose from the fathers +Numa Marcius, son of Marcius, as pontiff, and consigned to him a +complete system of religious rites written out and recorded, showing +with what victims, upon what days, and at what temples the sacred +rites were to be performed, and from what funds the money was to be +taken to defray the expenses. He also placed all other religious +institutions, public and private, under the control of the decrees of +the pontiff, to the end that there might be some authority to whom +the people should come to ask advice, to prevent any confusion in the +divine worship being caused by their neglecting the ceremonies of +their own country, and adopting foreign ones. He further ordained that +the same pontiff should instruct the people not only in the ceremonies +connected with the heavenly deities, but also in the due performance +of funeral solemnities, and how to appease the shades of the dead; and +what prodigies sent by lightning or any other phenomenon were to be +attended to and expiated. To draw forth such knowledge from the minds +of the gods, he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter Elicius, +and consulted the god by means of auguries as to what prodigies ought +to be attended to. + +The attention of the whole people having been thus diverted from +violence and arms to the deliberation and adjustment of these matters, +both their minds were engaged in some occupation, and the watchfulness +of the gods now constantly impressed upon them, as the deity of heaven +seemed to interest itself in human concerns, had filled the breasts of +all with such piety, that faith and religious obligations governed the +state, the dread of laws and punishments being regarded as secondary. +And while the people of their own accord were forming themselves on +the model of the king, as the most excellent example, the neighbouring +states also, who had formerly thought that it was a camp, not a city, +that had been established in their midst to disturb the general peace, +were brought to feel such respect for them that they considered it +impious to molest a state, wholly occupied in the worship of the gods. +There was a grove, the middle of which was irrigated by a spring of +running water, flowing from a dark grotto. As Numa often repaired +thither unattended, under pretence of meeting the goddess, he +dedicated the grove to the Camenae, because, as he asserted, their +meetings with his wife Egeria were held there. He also instituted a +yearly festival to Faith alone, and commanded her priests to be driven +to the chapel erected for the purpose in an arched chariot drawn by +two horses, and to perform the divine service with their hands wrapped +up to the fingers, intimating that Faith ought to be protected, and +that even her seat in men's right hands was sacred. He instituted many +other sacred rites, and dedicated places for performing them, which +the priests call Argei. But the greatest of all his works was the +maintenance of peace during the whole period of his reign, no less +than of his royal power. Thus two kings in succession, by different +methods, the one by war, the other by peace, aggrandized the state. +Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three: the state was +both strong and attempered by the arts both of war and peace. + +Upon the death of Numa, the administration returned again to an +interregnum. After that the people appointed as King Tullus Hostilius, +the grandson of that Hostilius who had made the noble stand against +the Sabines at the foot of the citadel: the fathers confirmed the +choice. He was not only unlike the preceding king, but even of a more +warlike disposition than Romulus. Both his youth and strength, and, +further, the renown of his grandfather, stimulated his ambition. +Thinking therefore that the state was deteriorating through ease, +he everywhere sought for an opportunity of stirring up war. It so +happened that some Roman and Alban peasants mutually plundered each +other's lands. Gaius Cluilius at that time was in power at Alba. From +both sides ambassadors were sent almost at the same time, to demand +satisfaction. Tullus had ordered his representatives to attend to +their instructions before anything else. He knew well that the Alban +would refuse, and so war might be proclaimed with a clear conscience. +Their commission was executed in a more dilatory manner by the Albans: +being courteously and kindly entertained by Tullus, they gladly took +advantage of the king's hospitality. Meanwhile the Romans had both +been first in demanding satisfaction, and upon the refusal of the +Alban, had proclaimed war upon the expiration of thirty days: of this +they gave Tullus notice. Thereupon he granted the Alban ambassadors an +opportunity of stating with what demands they came. They, ignorant of +everything, at first wasted some time in making excuses: That it was +with reluctance they would say anything which might be displeasing +to Tullus, but they were compelled by orders: that they had come to +demand satisfaction: if this was not granted, they were commanded to +declare war. To this Tullus made answer, "Go tell your king, that the +king of the Romans takes the gods to witness, that, whichever of the +two nations shall have first dismissed with contempt the ambassadors +demanding satisfaction, from it they [the gods] may exact atonement +for the disasters of this war." This message the Albans carried home. + +Preparations were made on both sides with the utmost vigour for a war +very like a civil one, in a manner between parents and children, both +being of Trojan stock: for from Troy came Lavinium, from Lavinium, +Alba, and the Romans were descended from the stock of the Alban kings. +However, the result of the war rendered the quarrel less distressing, +for the struggle never came to regular action, and when the buildings +only of one of the cities had been demolished, the two states were +incorporated into one. The Albans first invaded the Roman territories +with a large army. They pitched their camp not more than five miles +from the city, and surrounded it with a trench, which, for several +ages, was called the Cluilian trench, from the name of the general, +till, by lapse of time, the name, as well as the event itself, was +forgotten. In that camp Cluilius, the Alban king, died: the Albans +created Mettius Fufetius dictator. In the meantime Tullus, exultant, +especially at the death of the king, and giving out that the supreme +power of the gods, having begun at the head, would take vengeance on +the whole Alban nation for this impious war, having passed the enemy's +camp in the night-time, marched with a hostile army into the Alban +territory. This circumstance drew out Mettius from his camp: he led +his forces as close as possible to the enemy; thence he despatched +a herald and commanded him to tell Tullus that a conference was +expedient before they came to an engagement; and that, if he would +give him a meeting, he was certain he would bring forward matters +which concerned the interests of Rome no less than of Alba. Tullus did +not reject the offer: nevertheless, in case the proposals made should +prove fruitless, he led out his men in order of battle: the Albans +on their side marched out also. After both armies stood drawn up +in battle array, the chiefs, with a few of the principal officers, +advanced into the midst. Then the Alban began as follows: "That +injuries and the non-restitution of property claimed according to +treaty is the cause of this war, methinks I have both heard our king +Cluilius assert, and I doubt not, Tullus, but that you allege the +same. But if the truth must be told, rather than what is plausible, it +is thirst for rule that provokes two kindred and neighbouring states +to arms. Whether rightly or wrongly, I do not take upon myself to +determine: let the consideration of that rest with him who has begun +the war. As for myself, the Albans have only made me their leader for +carrying on that war. Of this, Tullus, I would have you advised: how +powerful the Etruscan state is around us, and around you particularly, +you know better than we, inasmuch as you are nearer to them. They are +very powerful by land, far more so by sea. Recollect that, directly +you shall give the signal for battle, these two armies will be the +object of their attention, that they may fall on us when wearied and +exhausted, victor and vanquished together. Therefore, for the love of +heaven, since, not content with a sure independence, we are running +the doubtful hazard of sovereignty and slavery, let us adopt some +method, whereby, without great loss, without much bloodshed of either +nation, it may be decided which is to rule the other." The proposal +was not displeasing to Tullus, though both from his natural bent, as +also from the hope of victory, he was rather inclined to violence. +After consideration, on both sides, a plan was adopted, for which +Fortune herself afforded the means of execution. + +It happened that there were in the two armies at that time three +brothers born at one birth, neither in age nor strength ill-matched. +That they were called Horatii and Curiatii is certain enough, and +there is hardly any fact of antiquity more generally known; yet in a +manner so well ascertained, a doubt remains concerning their names, as +to which nation the Horatii, to which the Curiatii belonged. Authors +incline to both sides, yet I find a majority who call the Horatii +Romans: my own inclination leads me to follow them. The kings arranged +with the three brothers that they should fight with swords each in +defence of their respective country; assuring them that dominion +would rest with those on whose side victory should declare itself. No +objection was raised; the time and place were agreed upon. Before the +engagement began, a compact was entered into between the Romans and +Albans on these conditions, that that state, whose champions should +come off victorious in the combat, should rule the other state without +further dispute. Different treaties are made on different conditions, +but in general they are all concluded with the same formalities. We +have heard that the treaty in question was then concluded as follows, +nor is there extant a more ancient record of any treaty. The herald +asked King Tullus, "Dost thou command me, O king, to conclude a +treaty with the pater patratus of the Alban people?" On the king so +commanding him he said, "I demand vervain of thee, O king." The king +replied, "Take some that is pure." The herald brought a pure blade of +grass from the citadel; then again he asked the king, "Dost thou, O +king, appoint me the royal delegate of the Roman people, the Quirites, +and my appurtenances and attendants?" The king replied, "So far as +it may be done without detriment to me and to the Roman people, the +Quirites, I do so." The herald was Marcus Valerius, who appointed +Spurius Fusius pater patratus,[21] touching his head and hair with +the vervain.[22] The pater patratus was appointed ad iusiurandum +patrandum, that is, to ratify the treaty; and he went through it in a +lengthy preamble, which, being expressed in a long set form, it is not +worth while to repeat. After having set forth the conditions, he said: +"Hear, O Jupiter; hear, O pater patratus of the Alban people, and ye, +O Alban people, give ear. As those conditions, from first to last, +have been publicly recited from those tablets or wax without wicked +or fraudulent intent, and as they have been most correctly understood +here this day, the Roman people will not be the first to fail to +observe those conditions. If they shall be the first to do so by +public consent, by fraudulent intent, on that day do thou, O Jupiter, +so strike the Roman people, as I shall here this day strike this +swine; and do thou strike them so much the more, as thou art more +mighty and more powerful." When he said this, he struck the swine with +a flint stone. The Albans likewise went through their own set form and +oath by the mouth of their own dictator and priests. + +The treaty being concluded, the twin-brothers, as had been agreed, +took arms. While their respective friends exhorted each party, +reminding them that their country's gods, their country and parents, +all their fellow-citizens both at home and in the army, had their eyes +then fixed on their arms, on their hands, being both naturally brave, +and animated by the shouts and exhortations of their friends, they +advanced into the midst between the two lines. The two armies on both +sides had taken their seats in front of their respective camps, free +rather from danger for the moment than from anxiety: for sovereign +power was at stake, dependent on the valour and fortune of so few. +Accordingly, therefore, on the tip-toe of expectation, their attention +was eagerly fixed on a spectacle far from pleasing. The signal was +given: and the three youths on each side, as if in battle array, +rushed to the charge with arms presented, bearing in their breasts the +spirit of mighty armies. Neither the one nor the other heeded their +personal danger, but the public dominion or slavery was present to +their mind, and the thought that the fortune of their country would be +such hereafter as they themselves should have made it. Directly their +arms clashed at the first encounter, and their glittering swords +flashed, a mighty horror thrilled the spectators; and, as hope +inclined to neither side, voice and breath alike were numbed. Then +having engaged hand to hand, when now not only the movements of their +bodies, and the indecisive brandishings of their arms and weapons, but +wounds also and blood were seen, two of the Romans fell lifeless, one +upon the other, the three Albans being wounded. And when the Alban +army had raised a shout of joy at their fall, hope had entirely by +this time, not however anxiety, deserted the Roman legions, breathless +with apprehension at the dangerous position of this one man, whom the +three Curiatii had surrounded. He happened to be unhurt, so that, +though alone he was by no means a match for them all together, yet +he was full of confidence against each singly. In order therefore to +separate their attack, he took to flight, presuming that they would +each pursue him with such swiftness as the wounded state of his body +would permit. He had now fled a considerable distance from the place +where the fight had taken place, when, looking back, he perceived that +they were pursuing him at a great distance from each other, and that +one of them was not far from him. On him he turned round with great +fury, and while the Alban army shouted out to the Curiatii to succour +their brother, Horatius by this time victorious, having slain his +antagonist, was now proceeding to a second attack. Then the Romans +encouraged their champion with a shout such as is wont to be raised +when men cheer in consequence of unexpected success; and he hastened +to finish the combat. Wherefore before the other, who was not far off, +could come up to him, he slew the second Curiatius also. And now, the +combat being brought to equal terms, one on each side remained, but +unequally matched in hope and strength. The one was inspired with +courage for a third contest by the fact that his body was uninjured by +a weapon, and by his double victory: the other dragging along his body +exhausted from his wound, exhausted from running, and dispirited by +the slaughter of his brothers before his eyes, thus met his victorious +antagonist. And indeed there was no fight. The Roman, exulting, cried: +"Two I have offered to the shades of my brothers: the third I will +offer to the cause of this war, that the Roman may rule over the +Alban." He thrust his sword down from above into his throat, while he +with difficulty supported the weight of his arms, and stripped him +as he lay prostrate. The Romans welcomed Horatius with joy and +congratulations; with so much the greater exultation, as the matter +had closely bordered on alarm. They then turned their attention to the +burial of their friends, with feelings by no means the same: for the +one side was elated by the acquisition of empire, the other brought +under the rule of others: their sepulchres may still be seen in the +spot where each fell; the two Roman in one place nearer Alba, the +three Alban in the direction of Rome, but situated at some distance +from each other, as in fact they had fought. + +Before they departed from thence, when Mettius, in accordance with the +treaty which had been concluded, asked Tullus what his orders were, +he ordered him to keep his young men under arms, for he intended to +employ them, if a war should break out with the Veientes. After this +both armies were led away to their homes. Horatius marched in front, +carrying before him the spoils of the three brothers: his maiden +sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him before +the gate Capena;[23] and having recognised on her brother's shoulders +the military robe of her betrothed, which she herself had worked, she +tore her hair, and with bitter wailings called by name on her deceased +lover. The sister's lamentations in the midst of his own victory, and +of such great public rejoicings, raised the ire of the hot-tempered +youth. So, having drawn his sword, he ran the maiden through the body, +at the same time reproaching her with these words: "Go hence with thy +ill-timed love to thy spouse, forgetful of thy brothers that are dead, +and of the one who survives--forgetful of thy country. So fare every +Roman woman who shall mourn an enemy." This deed seemed cruel to the +fathers and to the people; but his recent services outweighed its +enormity. Nevertheless he was dragged before the king for judgment. +The king, however, that he might not himself be responsible for a +decision so melancholy, and so disagreeable in the view of the people, +or for the punishment consequent on such decision, having summoned +an assembly of the people, declared, "I appoint, according to law, +duumvirs to pass sentence on Horatius for treason." The law was of +dreadful formula. "Let the duumvirs pass sentence for treason. If he +appeal from the duumvirs, let him contend by appeal; if they shall +gain the cause, let the lictor cover his head, hang him by a rope +on the accursed tree, scourge him either within the pomerium,[24]or +without the pomerium." The duumvirs appointed in accordance with this +decision, who did not consider that, according to that law, they could +acquit the man even if innocent, having condemned him, then one of +them said: "Publius Horatius, I judge thee guilty of treason. Lictor, +bind his hands." The lictor had approached him, and was commencing to +fix the rope round his neck. Then Horatius, on the advice of Tullus, +a merciful interpreter of the law, said, "I appeal." Accordingly the +matter was contested before the people as to the appeal. At that trial +the spectators were much affected, especially on Publius Horatius +the father declaring that he considered his daughter to have been +deservedly slain; were it not so, that he would by virtue of his +authority as a father have inflicted punishment on his son. He then +entreated them that they would not render him childless, one whom but +a little while ago they had beheld blessed with a fine progeny. During +these words the old man, having embraced the youth, pointing to the +spoils of the Curiatii hung up in that place which is now called Pila +Horatia,[25] "Quirites," said he, "can you bear to see bound beneath +the gallows, amid scourgings and tortures, the man whom you just now +beheld marching decorated with spoils and exulting in victory--a sight +so shocking that even the eyes of the Albans could scarcely endure it? +Go then, lictor, bind those hands, which but a little while since, +armed, won sovereignty for the Roman people. Go, cover the head of the +liberator of this city: hang him on the accursed tree: scourge him, +either within the pomerium, so it be only amid those javelins and +spoils of the enemy, or without the pomerium, so it be only amid the +graves of the Curiatii. For whither can you lead this youth, where his +own noble deeds will not redeem him from such disgraceful punishment?" +The people could not withstand either the tears of the father, or the +spirit of the son, the same in every danger, and acquitted him more +from admiration of his bravery, than on account of the justice of his +cause. But that so clear a murder might be at least atoned for by some +expiation, the father was commanded to expiate the son's guilt at the +public charge. He, having offered certain expiatory sacrifices, which +were ever after continued in the Horatian family, and laid a beam +across the street, made the youth pass under it, as under the yoke, +with his head covered. This beam remains even to this day, being +constantly repaired at the public expense; it is called Sororium +Tigillum (Sister's Beam). A tomb of square stone was erected to +Horatia in the spot where she was stabbed and fell. + +However, the peace with Alba did not long continue. The +dissatisfaction of the populace at the fortune of the state having +been intrusted to three soldiers, perverted the wavering mind of the +dictator; and since straightforward measures had not turned out well, +he began to conciliate the affections of the populace by treacherous +means. Accordingly, as one who had formerly sought peace in time of +war, and was now seeking war in time of peace, because he perceived +that his own state possessed more courage than strength, he stirred +up other nations to make war openly and by proclamation: for his own +people he reserved the work of treachery under the show of allegiance. +The Fidenates, a Roman colony,[26] having taken the Veientes into +partnership in the plot, were instigated to declare war and take up +arms under a compact of desertion on the part of the Albans. When +Fidenae had openly revolted, Tullus, after summoning Mettius and his +army from Alba, marched against the enemy. When he crossed the Anio, +he pitched his camp at the conflux of the rivers.[27] Between that +place and Fidenae, the army of the Veientes had crossed the Tiber. +These, in the line of battle, also occupied the right wing near the +river; the Fidenates were posted on the left nearer the mountains. +Tullus stationed his own men opposite the Veientine foe; the Albans +he posted to face the legion of the Fidenates. The Alban had no more +courage than loyalty. Therefore neither daring to keep his ground, nor +to desert openly, he filed off slowly to the mountains. After this, +when he supposed he had advanced far enough, he led his entire army +uphill, and still wavering in mind, in order to waste time, opened +his ranks. His design was, to direct his forces to that side on which +fortune should give success. At first the Romans who stood nearest +were astonished, when they perceived their flanks were exposed by the +departure of their allies; then a horseman at full gallop announced +to the king that the Albans were moving off. Tullus, in this perilous +juncture, vowed twelve Salii and temples to Paleness and Panic. +Rebuking the horseman in a loud voice, so that the enemy might hear +him plainly, he ordered him to return to the ranks, that there was no +occasion for alarm; that it was by his order that the Alban army was +being led round to fall on the unprotected rear of the Fidenates. He +likewise commanded him to order the cavalry to raise their spears +aloft; the execution of this order shut out the view of the retreating +Alban army from a great part of the Roman infantry. Those who saw it, +believing that it was even so, as they had heard from the king, fought +with all the greater valour. The alarm was transferred to the enemy; +they had both heard what had been uttered so loudly, and a great part +of the Fidenates, as men who had mixed as colonists with the Romans, +understood Latin. Therefore, that they might not be cut off from the +town by a sudden descent of the Albans from the hills, they took to +flight. Tullus pressed forward, and having routed the wing of the +Fidenates, returned with greater fury against the Veientes, who were +disheartened by the panic of the others: they did not even sustain +his charge; but the river, opposed to them in the rear, prevented a +disordered flight. When their flight led thither, some, shamefully +throwing down their arms, rushed blindly into the river; others, while +lingering on the banks, undecided whether to fight or flee, were +overpowered. Never before was a more desperate battle fought by the +Romans. + +Then the Alban army, which had been a mere spectator of the fight, +was marched down into the plains. Mettius congratulated Tullus on his +victory over the enemy; Tullus on his part addressed Mettius with +courtesy. He ordered the Albans to unite their camp with that of the +Romans, which he prayed heaven might prove beneficial to both; and +prepared a purificatory sacrifice for the next day. As soon as it +was daylight, all things being in readiness, according to custom, he +commanded both armies to be summoned to an assembly. The heralds, +beginning at the farthest part of the camp, summoned the Albans first. +They, struck also with the novelty of the thing, in order to hear the +Roman king deliver a speech, crowded next to him. The Roman forces, +under arms, according to previous arrangement, surrounded them; the +centurions had been charged to execute their orders without delay. +Then Tullus began as follows: "Romans, if ever before, at any other +time, in any war, there was a reason that you should return thanks, +first to the immortal gods, next to your own valour, it was +yesterday's battle. For the struggle was not so much with enemies as +with the treachery and perfidy of allies, a struggle which is more +serious and more dangerous. For--that you may not be under a mistaken +opinion--know that it was without my orders that the Albans retired to +the mountains, nor was that my command, but a stratagem and the mere +pretence of a command: that you, being kept in ignorance that you were +deserted, your attention might not be drawn away from the fight, and +that the enemy might be inspired with terror and dismay, conceiving +themselves to be surrounded on the rear. Nor is that guilt, which I +now complain of, shared by all the Albans. They merely followed their +leader, as you too would have done, had I wished to turn my army away +to any other point from thence. It is Mettius there who is the leader +of this march: it is Mettius also who the contriver of this war is: it +is Mettius who is the violator of the treaty between Rome and Alba. +Let another hereafter venture to do the like, if I do not presently +make of him a signal example to mankind." The centurions in arms stood +around Mettius: the king proceeded with the rest of his speech as he +had commenced: "It is my intention, and may it prove fortunate, happy, +and auspicious to the Roman people, to myself, and to you, O Albans, +to transplant all the inhabitants of Alba to Rome, to grant your +commons the rights of citizenship, to admit your nobles into the body +of senators, to make one city, one state: as the Alban state after +being one people was formerly divided into two, so let it now again +become one." On hearing this the Alban youth, unarmed, surrounded by +armed men, although divided in their sentiments, yet under pressure of +the general apprehension maintained silence. Then Tullus proceeded: +"If, Mettius Fufetius, you were capable of learning fidelity, and how +to observe treaties, I would have suffered you to live and have given +you such a lesson. But as it is, since your disposition is incurable, +do you at any rate by your punishment teach mankind to consider those +obligations sacred, which have been violated by you? As therefore a +little while since you kept your mind divided between the interests of +Fidenae and of Rome, so shall you now surrender your body to be torn +asunder in different directions." Upon this, two chariots drawn by +four horses being brought up, he bound Mettius stretched at full +length to their carriages: then the horses were driven in different +directions, carrying off his mangled body on each carriage, where the +limbs had remained hanging to the cords. All turned away their eyes +from so shocking a spectacle. That was the first and last instance +among the Romans of a punishment which established a precedent that +showed but little regard for the laws of humanity. In other cases +we may boast that no other nation has approved of milder forms of +punishment.[28] + +Meanwhile the cavalry had already been sent on to Alba, to transplant +the people to Rome. The legions were next led thither to demolish the +city. When they entered the gates, there was not indeed such a tumult +or panic as usually prevails in captured cities, when, after the gates +have been burst open, or the walls levelled by the battering-ram, or +the citadel taken by assault, the shouts of the enemy and rush of +armed men through the city throws everything into confusion with fire +and sword: but gloomy silence and speechless sorrow so stupefied the +minds of all, that, through fear, paying no heed as to what they +should leave behind, what they should take with them, in their +perplexity, making frequent inquiries one of another, they now stood +on the thresholds, now wandering about, roamed through their houses, +which they were destined to see then for the last time. When now the +shouts of the horsemen commanding them to depart became urgent, and +the crash of the dwellings which were being demolished was heard in +the remotest parts of the city, and the dust, rising from distant +places, had filled every quarter as with a cloud spread over them; +then, hastily carrying out whatever each of them could, while they +went forth, leaving behind them their guardian deity and household +gods,[29] and the homes in which each had been born and brought up, an +unbroken line of emigrants soon filled the streets, and the sight of +others caused their tears to break out afresh in pity for one another: +piteous cries too were heard, of the women more especially, as they +passed by their revered temples now beset with armed men, and left +their gods as it were in captivity. After the Albans had evacuated the +town, the Roman soldiery levelled all the public and private buildings +indiscriminately to the ground, and a single hour consigned to +destruction and ruin the work of four hundred years, during which +Alba had stood. The temples of the gods, however--for so it had been +ordered by the king--were spared. + +In the meantime Rome increased by the destruction of Alba. The number +of citizens was doubled. The Coelian Mount was added to the city, and, +in order that it might be more thickly populated, Tullus selected it +as a site for his palace, and subsequently took up his abode there. +The leading men of the Albans he enrolled among the patricians, that +that division of the state also might increase, the Tullii, Servilii, +Quinctii, Geganii, Curiatii, Cloelii; and as a consecrated place +of meeting for the order thus augmented by himself he built a +senate-house, which was called Hostilia[30] even down to the time of +our fathers. Further, that all ranks might acquire some additional +strength from the new people, he chose ten troops of horsemen from +among the Albans: he likewise recruited the old legions, and raised +new ones, by additions from the same source. Trusting to this increase +of strength, Tullus declared war against the Sabines, a nation at that +time the most powerful, next to the Etruscans, in men and arms. On +both sides wrongs had been committed, and satisfaction demanded in +vain. Tullus complained that some Roman merchants had been seized in a +crowded market near the temple of Feronia:[31] the Sabines that some +of their people had previously taken refuge in the asylum, and had +been detained at Rome. These were put forward as the causes of the +war. The Sabines, well aware both that a portion of their strength had +been settled at Rome by Tatius, and that the Roman power had also been +lately increased by the accession of the Alban people, began, in like +manner, to look around for foreign aid themselves. Etruria was in +their neighbourhood; of the Etruscans the Veientes were the nearest. +From thence they attracted some volunteers, whose minds were stirred +up to break the truce, chiefly in consequence of the rankling +animosities from former wars. Pay also had its weight with some +stragglers belonging to the indigent population. They were assisted +by no aid from the government, and the loyal observation of the truce +concluded with Romulus was strictly kept by the Veientes: with respect +to the others it is less surprising. While both sides were preparing +for war with the utmost vigour, and the matter seemed to turn on this, +which side should first commence hostilities, Tullus advanced first +into the Sabine territory. A desperate battle took place at the wood +called Malitiosa, in which the Roman army gained a decisive advantage, +both by reason of the superior strength of their infantry, and also, +more especially, by the aid of their cavalry, which had been recently +increased. The Sabine ranks were thrown into disorder by a sudden +charge of the cavalry, nor could they afterward stand firm in battle +array, or retreat in loose order without great slaughter. + +After the defeat of the Sabines, when the government of Tullus and the +whole Roman state enjoyed great renown, and was highly flourishing, it +was announced to the king and senators, that it had rained stones on +the Alban Mount. As this could scarcely be credited, on persons being +sent to investigate the prodigy, a shower of stones fell from heaven +before their eyes, just as when balls of hail are pelted down to the +earth by the winds. They also seemed to hear a loud voice from the +grove on the summit of the hill, bidding the Albans perform their +religious services according to the rites of their native country, +which they had consigned to oblivion, as if their gods had been +abandoned at the same time as their country; and had either adopted +the religious rites of Rome, or, as often happens, enraged at their +evil destiny, had altogether renounced the worship of the gods. A +festival of nine days was instituted publicly by the Romans also on +account of the same prodigy, either in obedience to the heavenly voice +sent from the Alban Mount--for that, too, is reported--or by the +advice of the soothsayers. Anyhow, it continued a solemn observance, +that, whenever a similar prodigy was announced, a festival for nine +days was observed. Not long after, they were afflicted with +an epidemic; and though in consequence of this there arose an +unwillingness to serve, yet no respite from arms was given them by the +warlike king, who considered besides that the bodies of the young +men were more healthy when on service abroad than at home, until he +himself also was attacked by a lingering disease. Then that proud +spirit and body became so broken, that he, who had formerly considered +nothing less worthy of a king than to devote his mind to religious +observances, began to pass his time a slave to every form of +superstition, important and trifling, and filled the people's minds +also with religious scruples. The majority of his subjects, now +desiring the restoration of that state of things which had existed +under King Numa, thought that the only chance of relief for their +diseased bodies lay in grace and compassion being obtained from the +gods. It is said that the king himself, turning over the commentaries +of Numa, after he had found therein that certain sacrifices of a +secret and solemn nature had been performed to Jupiter Elicius, shut +himself up and set about the performance of those solemnities, but +that that rite was not duly undertaken or carried out, and that not +only was no heavenly manifestation vouchsafed to him, but he and his +house were struck by lightning and burned to ashes, through theanger +of Jupiter, who was exasperated at the ceremony having been improperly +performed.[32] Tullus reigned two-and-thirty years with great military +renown. + +On the death of Tullus, according to the custom established in the +first instance, the government devolved once more upon the senate, +who nominated an interrex; and on his holding the comitia, the people +elected Ancus Marciusking. The fathers ratified the election. Ancus +Marcius was the grandson of King Numa Pompilius by his daughter. As +soon as he began to reign, mindful of the renown of his grandfather, +and reflecting that the last reign, glorious as it had been in every +other respect, in one particular had not been adequately prosperous, +either because the rites of religion had been utterly neglected, or +improperly performed, and deeming it of the highest importance to +perform the public ceremonies of religion, as they had been instituted +by Numa, he ordered the pontiff, after he had recorded them all from +the king's commentaries on white tables, to set them up in a public +place. Hence, as both his own subjects, and the neighbouring nations +desired peace, hope was entertained that the king would adopt the +conduct and institutions of his grandfather. Accordingly, the Latins, +with whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign of Tullus, gained +fresh courage; and, after they had invaded Roman territory, returned +a contemptuous answer to the Romans when they demanded satisfaction, +supposing that the Roman king would spend his reign in indolence among +chapels and altars. The disposition of Ancus was between two extremes, +preserving the qualities of both Numa and Romulus; and, besides +believing that peace was more necessary in his grandfather's reign, +since the people were then both newly formed and uncivilized, he also +felt that he could not easily preserve the tranquility unmolested +which had fallen to his lot: that his patience was being tried and +being tried, was despised: and that the times generally were more +suited to a King Tullus than to a Numa. In order, however, that, since +Numa had instituted religious rites in peace, ceremonies relating to +war might be drawn up by him, and that wars might not only be waged, +but proclaimed also in accordance with some prescribed form, he +borrowed from an ancient nation, the Æquicolae, and drew up the form +which the heralds observe to this day, according to which restitution +is demanded. The ambassador, when he reaches the frontiers of the +people from whom satisfaction is demanded, having his head covered +with a fillet--this covering is of wool--says: "Hear, O Jupiter, hear, +ye confines" (naming whatsoever nation they belong to), "let divine +justice hear. I am the public messenger of the Roman people; I come +deputed by right and religion, and let my words gain credit." He then +definitely states his demands; afterward he calls Jupiter to witness: +"If I demand these persons and these goods to be given up to me +contrary to human or divine right, then mayest thou never permit me to +enjoy my native country." These words he repeats when he passes +over the frontiers: the same to the first man he meets: the same on +entering the gate: the same on entering the forum, with a slight +change of expression in the form of the declaration and drawing up of +the oath. If the persons whom he demands are not delivered up, after +the expiration of thirty-three days--for this number is enjoined by +rule--he declares war in the following terms: "Hear, Jupiter, and +thou, Janus Quirinus, and all ye celestial, terrestrial, and infernal +gods, give ear! I call you to witness, that this nation "(mentioning +its name)" is unjust, and does not carry out the principles of +justice: however, we will consult the elders in our own country +concerning those matters, by what means we may obtain our rights." +The messenger returns with them to Rome to consult. The king used +immediately to consult the fathers as nearly as possible in the +following words: "Concerning such things, causes of dispute, and +quarrels, as the pater patratus of the Roman people, the Quirites, has +treated with the pater patratus of the ancient Latins, and with the +ancient Latin people, which things ought to be given up, made good, +discharged, which things they have neither given up, nor made good, +nor discharged, declare," says he to him, whose opinion he asked +first, "what think you?" Then he replies: "I think that they should +be demanded by a war free from guilt and regularly declared; and +accordingly I agree, and vote for it." Then the others were asked +in order, and when the majority of those present expressed the same +opinion, war was agreed upon. It was customary for the fetialis to +carry in his hand a spear pointed with steel, or burned at the end +and dipped in blood, to the confines of the enemy's country, and in +presence of at least three grown-up persons, to say, "Forasmuch as +the states of the ancient Latins, and the ancient Latin people, have +offended against the Roman people of the Quirites, forasmuch as the +Roman people of the Quirites have ordered that there should be war +with the ancient Latins, and the senate of the Roman people, the +Quirites, have given their opinion, agreed, and voted that war should +be waged with the ancient Latins, on this account I and the Roman +people declare and wage war on the states of the ancient Latins, and +on the ancient Latin people." Whenever he said that, he used to hurl +the spear within their confines. After this manner at that time +satisfaction was demanded from the Latins, and war proclaimed: and +posterity has adopted that usage. + +Ancus, having intrusted the care of sacred matters to the flamen +and other priests, set out with an army freshly levied, and took +Politorium, a city of the Latins, by storm: and following the example +of former kings, who had increased the Roman power by incorporating +enemies into the state, transplanted all the people to Rome. And since +the Sabines had occupied the Capitol and citadel, and the Albans the +Coelian Mount on both sides of the Palatium, the dwelling-place of +the old Romans, the Aventine was assigned to the new people; not long +after, on the capture of Tellenae and Ficana, new citizens were added +to the same quarter. After this Politorium, which the ancient Latins +had taken possession of when vacated, was taken a second time by force +of arms. This was the cause of the Romans demolishing that city that +it might never after serve as a place of refuge for the enemy. At +last, the war with the Latins being entirely concentrated at Medullia, +the contest was carried on there for some time with changing success, +according as the fortune of war varied: for the town was both well +protected by fortified works, and strengthened by a powerful garrison, +and the Latins, having pitched their camp in the open, had several +times come to a close engagement with the Romans. At last Ancus, +making an effort with all his forces, first defeated them in a pitched +battle, and, enriched by considerable booty, returned thence to Rome: +many thousands of the Latins were then also admitted to citizenship, +to whom, in order that the Aventine might be united to the Palatium, +a settlement was assigned near the Temple of Murcia.[33] was likewise +added not from want of room, but lest at any time it should become a +stronghold for the enemy. It was resolved that it should not only be +surrounded by a wall, but also, for convenience of passage, be united +to the city by a wooden bridge, which was then for the first time +built across the Tiber. The fossa Quiritium, no inconsiderable defence +in places where the ground was lower and consequently easier of +access, was also the work of King Ancus. The state being augmented +by such great accessions, seeing that, amid such a multitude of +inhabitants (all distinction of right and wrong being as yet +confounded), secret crimes were committed, a prison [34] was built +in the heart of the city, overlooking the forum, to intimidate the +growing licentiousness. And not only was the city increased under this +king, but also its territory and boundaries. After the Mesian forest +had been taken from the Veientines, the Roman dominion was extended as +far as the sea, and the city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber; +salt-pits were dug around it, and, in consequence of the distinguished +successes in war, the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged. + +In the reign of Ancus, Lucumo,[35] a wealthy and enterprising man, +came to settle at Rome, prompted chiefly by the desire and hope of +high preferment, which he had no opportunity of obtaining at Tarquinii +(for there also he was descended from an alien stock). He was the son +of Demaratus, a Corinthian, who, an exile from his country on account +of civil disturbances had chanced to settle at Tarquinii, and having +married a wife there, had two sons by her. Their names were Lucumo +and Arruns. Lucumo survived his father, and became heir to all his +property. Arruns died before his father, leaving a wife pregnant. The +father did not long survive the son, and as he, not knowing that +his daughter-in-law was pregnant, had died without mentioning his +grandchild in his will, the boy who was born after the death of his +grandfather, and had no share in his fortune, was given the name of +Egerius on account of his poverty. Lucumo, who was, on the other +hand, the heir of all his father's property, being filled with high +aspirations by reason of his wealth, had these ambitions greatly +advanced by his marriage with Tanaquil, who was descended from a very +high family, and was a woman who would not readily brook that the +condition into which she had married should be inferior to that in +which she had been born. As the Etruscans despised Lucumo, as being +sprung from a foreign exile, she could not put up with the affront, +and, regardless of the natural love of her native country, provided +only she could see her husband advanced to honour, she formed the +design of leaving Tarquinii. Rome seemed particularly suited for that +purpose. In a state, lately founded, where all nobility is rapidly +gained and as the reward of merit, there would be room (she thought) +for a man of courage and activity. Tatius, a Sabine, had been king +of Rome: Numa had been sent for from Cures to reign there: Ancus was +sprung from a Sabine mother, and rested his title to nobility on the +single statue of Numa.[36] Without difficulty she persuaded him, +being, as he was, ambitious of honours, and one to whom Tarquinii was +his country only on his mother's side. Accordingly, removing their +effects, they set out for Rome. They happened to have reached the +Janiculum: there, as he sat in the chariot with his wife, an eagle, +gently swooping down on floating wings, took off his cap, and hovering +above the chariot with loud screams, as if it had been sent from +heaven for that very purpose, carefully replaced it on his head, +and then flew aloft out of sight. Tanaquil is said to have joyfully +welcomed this omen, being a woman well skilled, as the Etruscans +generally are, in celestial prodigies, and, embracing her husband, +bade him hope for a high and lofty destiny: that such a bird had come +from such a quarter of the heavens, and the messenger of such a god: +that it had declared the omen around the highest part of man: that it +had lifted the ornament placed on the head of man, to restore it to +him again, by direction of the gods. Bearing with them such hopes and +thoughts, they entered the city, and having secured a dwelling there, +they gave out his name as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. The fact that he +was a stranger and his wealth rendered him an object of attention +to the Romans. He himself also promoted his own good fortune by his +affable address, by the courteousness of his invitations, and by +gaining over to his side all whom he could by acts of kindness, until +reports concerning him reached even to the palace: and that notoriety +he, in a short time, by paying his court to the king without truckling +and with skilful address, improved so far as to be admitted on a +footing of intimate friendship, so much so that he was present at all +public and private deliberations alike, both foreign and domestic; +and being now proved in every sphere, he was at length, by the king's +will, also appointed guardian to his children. + +Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of the former kings both +in the arts of war and peace, and in renown. His sons were now nigh +the age of puberty; for which reason Tarquin was more urgent that +the assembly for the election of a king should be held as soon as +possible. The assembly having been proclaimed, he sent the boys out +of the way to hunt just before the time of the meeting. He is said to +have been the first who canvassed for the crown, and to have made a +speech expressly worded with the object of gaining the affections of +the people: saying that he did not aim at anything unprecedented, for +that he was not the first foreigner (a thing at which any one might +feel indignation or surprise), but the third who aspired to the +sovereignty of Rome. That Tatius who had not only been an alien, but +even an enemy, had been made king; that Numa, who knew nothing of +the city, and without solicitation on his part, had been voluntarily +invited by them to the throne. That he, from the time he was his own +master, had migrated to Rome with his wife and whole fortune, and +had spent a longer period of that time of life, during which men are +employed in civil offices, at Rome, than he had in his native country; +that he had both in peace and war become thoroughly acquainted with +the political and religious institutions of the Romans, under a master +by no means to be despised, King Ancus himself; that he had vied with +all in duty and loyalty to his king, and with the king himself in his +bounty to others. While he was recounting these undoubted facts, the +people with great unanimity elected him king. The same spirit of +ambition which had prompted Tarquin, in other respects an excellent +man, to aspire to the crown, attended him also on the throne. And +being no less mindful of strengthening his own power, than of +increasing the commonwealth, he elected a hundred new members into the +senate, who from that time were called minorum gentium, a party who +stanchly supported the king, by whose favour they had been admitted +into the senate. The first war he waged was with the Latins, in whose +territory he took the town of Apiolae by storm, and having brought +back thence more booty than might have been expected from the reported +importance of the war, he celebrated games with more magnificence and +display than former kings. The place for the circus, which is now +called Maximus, was then first marked out, and spaces were apportioned +to the senators and knights, where they might each erect seats for +themselves: these were called fori (benches). They viewed the games +from scaffolding which supported seats twelve feet in height from the +ground. The show consisted of horses and boxers that were summoned, +chiefly from Etruria. These solemn games, afterward celebrated +annually, continued an institution, being afterward variously called +the Roman and Great games. By the same king also spaces round the +forum were assigned to private individuals for building on; covered +walks and shops were erected. + +He was also preparing to surround the city with a stone wall, when a +war with the Sabines interrupted his plans. The whole thing was so +sudden, that the enemy passed the Anio before the Roman army could +meet and prevent them: great alarm therefore was felt at Rome. At +first they fought with doubtful success, and with great slaughter on +both sides. After this, the enemy's forces were led back into camp, +and the Romans having thus gained time to make preparations for the +war afresh, Tarquin, thinking that the weak point of his army lay +specially in the want of cavalry, determined to add other centuries to +the Ramnenses, Titienses, and Luceres which Romulus had enrolled, and +to leave them distinguished by his own name. Because Romulus had done +this after inquiries by augury, Attus Navius, a celebrated soothsayer +of the day, insisted that no alteration or new appointment could be +made, unless the birds had approved of it. The king, enraged at this, +and, as they say, mocking at his art, said, "Come, thou diviner, tell +me, whether what I have in my mind can be done or not?" When Attus, +having tried the matter by divination, affirmed that it certainly +could, "Well, then," said he, "I was thinking that you should cut +asunder this whetstone with a razor. Take it, then, and perform what +thy birds portend can be done." Thereupon they say that he immediately +cut the whetstone in two. A statue of Attus, with his head veiled, +was erected in the comitium, close to the steps on the left of the +senate-house, on the spot where the event occurred. They say also that +the whetstone was deposited in the same place that it might remain as +a record of that miracle to posterity. Without doubt so much honour +accrued to auguries and the college of augurs, that nothing was +subsequently undertaken either in peace or war without taking the +auspices, and assemblies of the people, the summoning of armies, and +the most important affairs of state were put off, whenever the +birds did not prove propitious. Nor did Tarquin then make any other +alteration in the centuries of horse, except that he doubled the +number of men in each of these divisions, so that the three centuries +consisted of one thousand eight hundred knights; only, those that were +added were called "the younger," but by the same names as the +earlier, which, because they have been doubled, they now call the six +centuries. + +This part of his forces being augmented, a second engagement took +place with the Sabines. But, besides that the strength of the Roman +army had been thus augmented, a stratagem also was secretly resorted +to, persons being sent to throw into the river a great quantity of +timber that lay on the banks of the Anio, after it had been first set +on fire; and the wood, being further kindled by the help of the wind, +and the greater part of it, that was placed on rafts, being driven +against and sticking in the piles, fired the bridge. This accident +also struck terror into the Sabines during the battle, and, after they +were routed, also impeded their flight. Many, after they had escaped +the enemy, perished in the river: their arms floating down the Tiber +to the city, and being recognised, made the victory known almost +before any announcement of it could be made. In that action the chief +credit rested with the cavalry: they say that, being posted on the +two wings, when the centre of their own infantry was now being driven +back, they charged so briskly in flank, that they not only checked +the Sabine legions who pressed hard on those who were retreating, but +suddenly put them to flight. The Sabines made for the mountains in +disordered flight, but only a few reached them; for, as has been +said before, most of them were driven by the cavalry into the river. +Tarquin, thinking it advisable to press the enemy hard while in a +state of panic, having sent the booty and the prisoners to Rome, and +piled in a large heap and burned the enemy's spoils, vowed as an +offering to Vulcan, proceeded to lead his army onward into the Sabine +territory. And though the operation had been unsuccessfully carried +out, and they could not hope for better success; yet, because the +state of affairs did not allow time for deliberation, the Sabines came +out to meet him with a hastily raised army. Being again routed there, +as the situation had now become almost desperate, they sued for peace. +Collatia and all the land round about was taken from the Sabines, and +Egerius, son of the king's brother, was left there in garrison. I +learn that the people of Collatia were surrendered, and that the +form of the surrender was as follows. The king asked them, "Are ye +ambassadors and deputies sent by the people of Collatia to surrender +yourselves and the people of Collatia?" "We are." "Are the people of +Collatia their own masters?" "They are." "Do ye surrender yourselves +and the people of Collatia, their city, lands, water, boundaries, +temples, utensils, and everything sacred or profane belonging to them, +into my power, and that of the Roman people?" "We do." "Then I receive +them." When the Sabine war was finished, Tarquin returned in triumph +to Rome. After that he made war upon the ancient Latins, wherein they +came on no occasion to a decisive engagement; yet, by shifting his +attack to the several towns, he subdued the whole Latin nation. +Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, +and Nomentum, towns which either belonged to the ancient Latins, or +which had revolted to them, were taken from them. Upon this, peace was +concluded. Works of peace were then commenced with even greater spirit +than the efforts with which he had conducted his wars, so that the +people enjoyed no more repose at home than it had already enjoyed +abroad; for he set about surrounding the city with a stone wall, on +the side where he had not yet fortified it, the beginning of which +work had been interrupted by the Sabine war; and the lower parts of +the city round the forum, and the other valleys lying between the +hills, because they could not easily carry off the water from the flat +grounds, he drained by means of sewers conducted down a slope into the +Tiber. He also levelled an open space for a temple of Jupiter in the +Capitol, which he had vowed to him in the Sabine war: as his mind even +then forecast the future grandeur of the place, he took possession of +the site by laying its foundations. + +At that time a prodigy was seen in the palace, which was marvellous +in its result. It is related that the head of a boy, called Servius +Tullius, as he lay asleep, blazed with fire in the presence of several +spectators: that, on a great noise being made at so miraculous a +phenomenon, the king and queen were awakened: and when one of the +servants was bringing water to put out the flame, that he was kept +back by the queen, and after the disturbance was quieted, that she +forbade the boy to be disturbed till he should awaken of his own +accord. As soon as he awoke the flame disappeared. Then Tanaquil, +taking her husband apart, said: "Do you see this boy whom bringing up +in so mean a style? Be assured that some time hereafter he will be a +light to us in our adversity, and a protector of our royal house when +in distress. Henceforth let us, with all the tenderness we can, train +up this youth, who is destined to prove the source of great glory to +our family and state." From this time the boy began to be treated as +their own son, and instructed in those accomplishments by which men's +minds are roused to maintain high rank with dignity. This was easily +done, as it was agreeable to the gods. The young man turned out to be +of truly royal disposition: nor when a son-in-law was being sought +for Tarquin, could any of the Roman youth be compared to him in any +accomplishment: therefore the king betrothed his own daughter to +him. The fact of this high honour being conferred upon him from +whatever cause, forbids us to believe that he was the son of a slave, +or that he had himself been a slave when young. I am rather of the +opinion of those who say that, on the taking of Corniculum, the wife +of Servius Tullius, who had been the leading man in that city, being +pregnant when her husband was slain, since she was known among the +other female prisoners, and, in consequence of her distinguished rank, +exempted from servitude by the Roman queen, was delivered of a child +at Rome, in the house of Tarquinius Priscus: upon this, that both the +intimacy between the women was increased by so great a kindness, +and that the boy, as he had been brought up in the family from his +infancy, was beloved and respected; that his mother's lot, in having +fallen into the hands of the enemy after the capture of her native +city, caused him to be thought to be the son of a slave. + +About the thirty-eighth year of Tarquin's reign, Servius Tullius +enjoyed the highest esteem, not only of the king, but also of the +senate and people. At this time the two sons of Ancus, though they had +before that always considered it the highest indignity that they +had been deprived of their father's crown by the treachery of their +guardian, that a stranger should be King of Rome, who not only did not +belong to a neighbouring, but not even to an Italian family, now felt +their indignation roused to a still higher pitch at the idea that +the crown would not only not revert to them after Tarquin, but would +descend even lower to slaves, so that in the same state, about the +hundredth year after Romulus, descended from a deity, and a deity +himself, had occupied the throne as long as he lived, Servius, one +born of a slave, would possess it: that it would be the common +disgrace both of the Roman name, and more especially of their family, +if, while there was male issue of King Ancus still living, the +sovereignty of Rome should be accessible not only to strangers, but +even to slaves. They determined therefore to prevent that disgrace by +the sword. But since resentment for the injury done to them incensed +them more against Tarquin himself, than against Servius, and the +consideration that a king was likely to prove a more severe avenger of +the murder, if he should survive, than a private person; and moreover, +even if Servius were put to death, it seemed likely that he would +adopt as his successor on the throne whomsoever else he might have +selected as his son-in-law. For these reasons the plot was laid +against the king himself. Two of the most brutal of the shepherds, +chosen for the deed, each carrying with him the iron tools of +husbandmen to the use of which he had been accustomed, by creating as +great a disturbance as they could in the porch of the palace, under +pretence of a quarrel, attracted the attention of all the king's +attendants to themselves; then, when both appealed to the king, and +their clamour had reached even the interior of the palace, they were +summoned and proceeded before him. At first both shouted aloud, and +vied in clamouring against each other, until, being restrained by +the lictor, and commanded to speak in turns, they at length ceased +railing: as agreed upon, one began to state his case. While the king's +attention, eagerly directed toward the speaker, was diverted from the +second shepherd, the latter, raising up his axe, brought it down upon +the king's head, and, leaving the weapon in the wound, both rushed out +of the palace. + +When those around had raised up Tarquin in a dying state, the lictors +seized the shepherds, who were endeavouring to escape. Upon this an +uproar ensued and a concourse of people assembled, wondering what was +the matter. Tanaquil, amid the tumult, ordered the palace to be shut, +and thrust out all spectators: at the same time she carefully prepared +everything necessary for dressing the wound, as if a hope still +remained: at the same time, she provided other means of safety, in +case her hopes should prove false. Having hastily summoned Servius, +after she had shown him her husband almost at his last gasp, holding +his right hand, she entreated him not to suffer the death of his +father-in-law to pass unavenged, nor to allow his mother-in-law to be +an object of scorn to their enemies. "Servius," said she, "if you are +a man, the kingdom belongs to you, not to those, who, by the hands of +others, have perpetrated a most shameful deed. Rouse yourself, and +follow the guidance of the gods, who portended that this head of yours +would be illustrious by formerly shedding a divine blaze around it. +Now let that celestial flame arouse you. Now awake in earnest. We, +too, though foreigners, have reigned. Consider who you are, not whence +you are sprung. If your own plans are rendered useless by reason of +the suddenness of this event, then follow mine." When the uproar +and violence of the multitude could scarcely be endured, Tanaquil +addressed the populace from the upper part of the palace [37] through +the windows facing the New Street (for the royal residence was near +the Temple of Jupiter Stator). She bade them be of good courage; that +the king was merely stunned by the suddenness of the blow; that the +weapon had not sunk deep into his body; that he had already come to +his senses again; that the blood had been wiped off and the wound +examined; that all the symptoms were favourable; that she was +confident they would see him in person very soon; that, in the +meantime, he commanded the people to obey the orders of Servius +Tullius; that the latter would administer justice, and perform all +the other functions of the king. Servius came forth wearing the +trabea[38], and attended by lictors, and seating himself on the king's +throne, decided some cases, and with respect to others pretended that +he would consult the king. Therefore, though Tarquin had now expired, +his death was concealed for several days, and Servius, under pretence +of discharging the functions of another, strengthened his own +influence. Then at length the fact of his death was made public, +lamentations being raised in the palace. Servius, supported by a +strong body-guard, took possession of the kingdom by the consent +of the senate, being the first who did so without the order of the +people. The children of Ancus, the instruments of their villainy +having been by this time caught, as soon as it was announced that the +king still lived, and that the power of Servius was so great, had +already gone into exile to Suessa Pometia. + +And now Servius began to strengthen his power, not more by public +than by private measures; and, that the children of Tarquin might not +entertain the same feelings toward himself as the children of Ancus +had entertained toward Tarquin, he united his two daughters in +marriage to the young princes, the Tarquinii, Lucius and Arruns. He +did not, however, break through the inevitable decrees of fate by +human counsels, so as to prevent jealousy of the sovereign power +creating general animosity and treachery even among the members of +his own family. Very opportunely for the immediate preservation of +tranquility, a war was undertaken against the Veientes (for the truce +had now expired) and the other Etruscans. In that war, both the valour +and good fortune of Tullius were conspicuous, and he returned to Rome, +after routing a large army of the enemy, undisputed king, whether he +tested the dispositions of the fathers or the people. He then set +about a work of peace of the utmost importance: that, as Numa had been +the author of religious institutions, so posterity might celebrate +Servius as the founder of all distinction in the state and of the +several orders by which any difference is perceptible between the +degrees of rank and fortune. For he instituted the census,[39] a most +salutary measure for an empire destined to become so great, according +to which the services of war and peace were to be performed, not by +every man, as formerly, but in proportion to his amount of property. +Then he divided the classes and centuries according to the census, and +introduced the following arrangement, eminently adapted either for +peace or war. + +Of those who possessed property to the value of a hundred thousand +asses[40] and upward, he formed eighty centuries, forty of seniors[41] +and forty of juniors.[42] All these were called the first class, the +seniors to be in readiness to guard the city, the juniors to carry on +war abroad. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a helmet, +a round shield, greaves, and a coat of mail, all of brass; these were +for the defence of the body: their weapons of offence were a spear and +a sword. To this class were added two centuries of mechanics, who were +to serve without arms: the duty imposed upon them was that of making +military engines in time of war. The second class included all those +whose property varied between seventy-five and a hundred thousand +asses, and of these, seniors and juniors twenty centuries were +enrolled. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a buckler +instead of a shield, and, except a coat of mail, all the rest were the +same. He decided that the property of the third class should amount to +fifty thousand asses: the number of its centuries was the same, and +formed with the same distinction of age: nor was there any change in +their arms, only the greaves were dispensed with. In the fourth class, +the property was twenty-five thousand asses: the same number of +centuries was formed; their arms were changed, nothing being given +them but a spear and a short javelin. The fifth class was larger, +thirty centuries being formed: these carried slings and stones for +throwing. Among them the supernumeraries, the horn-blowers and the +trumpeters, were distributed into three centuries. This class was +rated at eleven thousand asses. Property lower than this embraced the +rest of the citizens, and of them one century was made up which was +exempted from military service. Having thus arranged and distributed +the infantry, he enrolled twelve centuries of knights from among +the chief men of the state. While Romulus had only appointed three +centuries, Servius formed six others under the same names as they had +received at their first institution. Ten thousand asses were given +them out of the public revenue, to buy horses, and a number of widows +assigned them, who were to contribute two thousand asses yearly for +the support of the horses. All these burdens were taken off the poor +and laid on the rich. Then an additional honour was conferred upon +them: for the suffrage was not now granted promiscuously to all--a +custom established by Romulus, and observed by his successors--to +every man with the same privilege and the same right, but gradations +were established, so that no one might seem excluded from the right of +voting, and yet the whole power might reside in the chief men of the +state. For the knights were first called to vote, and then the eighty +centuries of the first class, consisting of the first class of the +infantry: if there occurred a difference of opinion among them, which +was seldom the case, the practice was that those of the second class +should be called, and that they seldom descended so low as to come +down to the lowest class. Nor need we be surprised, that the present +order of things, which now exists, after the number of the tribes was +increased to thirty-five, their number being now double of what it +was, should not agree as to the number of centuries of juniors and +seniors with the collective number instituted by Servius Tullius. For +the city being divided into four districts, according to the regions +and hills which were then inhabited, he called these divisions, +tribes, as I think, from the tribute. For the method of levying taxes +ratably according to the value of property was also introduced by him: +nor had these tribes any relation to the number and distribution of +the centuries. + +The census being now completed, which he had brought to a speedy close +by the terror of a law passed in reference to those who were +not rated, under threats of imprisonment and death, he issued a +proclamation that all the Roman citizens, horse and foot, should +attend at daybreak in the Campus Martius, each in his century. There +he reviewed the whole army drawn up in centuries, and purified it by +the rite called Suovetaurilia,[43] and that was called the closing +of the lustrum, because it was the conclusion of the census. Eighty +thousand citizens are said to have been rated in that survey. Fabius +Pictor, the most ancient of our historians, adds that that was the +number of those who were capable of bearing arms. To accommodate that +vast population the city also seemed to require enlargement. He took +in two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal; then next he enlarged the +Esquiline, and took up his own residence there, in order that dignity +might be conferred upon the place. He surrounded the city with a +rampart, a moat, and a wall:[44] thus he enlarged the pomerium. Those +who regard only the etymology of the word, will have the pomerium to +be a space of ground behind the walls: whereas it is rather a space +on each side of the wall, which the Etruscans, in building cities, +formerly consecrated by augury, within certain limits, both within and +without, in the direction they intended to raise the wall: so that +the houses might not be erected close to the walls on the inside, as +people commonly unite them now, and also that there might be some +space without left free from human occupation. This space, which was +forbidden to be tilled or inhabited, the Romans called pomerium, not +so much from its being behind the wall, as from the wall being behind +it: and in enlarging the boundaries of the city, these onsecrated +limits were always extended, as far as the walls were intended to be +advanced. + +When the population had been increased in consequence of the +enlargement of the city, and everything had been organized at home to +meet the exigencies both of peace and war, that the acquisition of +power might not always depend on mere force of arms, he endeavoured to +extend his empire by policy and at the same time to add some ornament +to the city. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus was even then in high +renown; it was reported that it had been built by all the states of +Asia in common. When Servius, in the company of some Latin nobles with +whom he had purposely formed ties of hospitality and friendship, +both in public and private, extolled in high terms such harmony +and association of their gods, by frequently harping upon the same +subject, he at length prevailed so far that the Latin states agreed +to build a temple of Diana at Rome[45] in conjunction with the Roman +people. This was an acknowledgment that the headship of affairs, +concerning which they had so often disputed in arms, was centred in +Rome. An accidental opportunity of recovering power by a scheme of his +own seemed to present itself to one of the Sabines, though that object +appears to have been left out of consideration by all the Latins, +in consequence of the matter having been so often attempted +unsuccessfully by arms. A cow of surprising size and beauty is said to +have been calved to a certain Sabine, the head of a family: her horns, +which were hung up in the porch of the Temple of Diana, remained for +many ages, to bear record to this marvel. The thing was regarded in +the light of a prodigy, as indeed it was, and the soothsayers declared +that sovereignty should reside in that state, a citizen of which had +sacrificed this heifer to Diana. This prediction had also reached the +ears of the high priest of the Temple of Diana. The Sabine, as soon as +a suitable day for the sacrifice seemed to have arrived, drove the cow +to Rome, led her to the Temple of Diana, and set her before the +altar. There the Roman priest, struck with the size of the victim, so +celebrated by fame, mindful of the response of the soothsayers, thus +accosted the Sabine: "What dost thou intend to do, stranger?" said +he; "with impure hands to offer sacrifice to Diana? Why dost not thou +first wash thyself in running water? The Tiber runs past at the bottom +of the valley." The stranger, seized with religious awe, since he was +desirous of everything being done in due form, that the event might +correspond with the prediction, forthwith went down to the Tiber. In +the meantime the Roman priest sacrificed the cow to Diana, gave great +satisfaction to the king, and to the whole state. + +Servius, though he had now acquired an indisputable right to the +kingdom by long possession, yet, as he heard that expressions were +sometimes thrown out by young Tarquin, to the effect that he occupied +the throne without the consent of the people, having first secured the +good-will of the people by dividing among them, man by man, the land +taken from their enemies, he ventured to propose the question to +them, whether they chose and ordered that he should be king, and +was declared king with greater unanimity than any other of his +predecessors. And yet even this circumstance did not lessen Tarquin's +hope of obtaining the throne; nay, because he had observed that the +matter of the distribution of land to the people was against the will +of the fathers, he thought that an opportunity was now presented to +him of arraigning Servius before the fathers with greater violence, +and of increasing his own influence in the senate, being himself a +hot-tempered youth, while his wife Tullia roused his restless temper +at home. For the royal house of the Roman kings also exhibited an +example of tragic guilt, so that through their disgust of kings, +liberty came more speedily, and the rule of this king, which was +attained through crime, was the last. This Lucius Tarquinius (whether +he was the son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus is not clear: +following the greater number of authorities, however, I should feel +inclined to pronounce him his son) had a brother, Arruns Tarquinius, a +youth of a mild disposition. To these two, as has been already stated, +the two Tullias, daughters of the king, had been married, they also +themselves being of widely different characters. It had come to pass, +through the good fortune, I believe, of the Roman people, that two +violent dispositions should not be united in marriage, in order that +the reign of Servius might last longer, and the constitution of +the state be firmly established. The haughty spirit of Tullia was +chagrined, that there was no predisposition in her husband, either to +ambition or daring. Directing all her regard to the other Tarquinius, +him she admired, him she declared to be a man, and sprung from royal +blood; she expressed her contempt for her sister, because, having a +man for her husband, she lacked that spirit of daring that a woman +ought to possess. Similarity of disposition soon drew them together, +as wickedness is in general most congenial to wickedness; but the +beginning of the general confusion originated with the woman. +Accustomed to the secret conversations of the husband of another, +there was no abusive language that she did not use about her husband +to his brother, about her sister to her sister's husband, asserting +that it would have been better for herself to remain unmarried, and he +single, than that she should be united with one who was no fit mate +for her, so that her life had to be passed in utter inactivity by +reason of the cowardice of another. If the gods had granted her the +husband she deserved, she would soon have seen the crown in possession +of her own house, which she now saw in possession of her father. She +soon filled the young man with her own daring. Lucius Tarquinius and +the younger Tullia, when the pair had, by almost simultaneous murders, +made their houses vacant for new nuptials, were united in marriage, +Servius rather offering no opposition than actually approving. + +Then indeed the old age of Tullius began to be every day more +endangered, his throne more imperilled. For now the woman from one +crime directed her thoughts to another, and allowed her husband no +rest either by night or by day, that their past crimes might not prove +unprofitable, saying that what she wanted was not one whose wife she +might be only in name, or one with whom she might live an inactive +life of slavery: what she wanted was one who would consider himself +worthy of the throne, who would remember that he was the son of +Tarquinius Priscus, who would rather have a kingdom than hope for it. +"If you, to whom I consider myself married, are such a one, I greet +you both as husband and king; but if not, our condition has been +changed so far for the worse, in that in your crime is associated with +cowardice. Why do you not gird yourself to the task? You need not, +like your father, from Corinth or Tarquinii, struggle for a kingdom in +a foreign land. Your household and country's gods, the statue of your +father, the royal palace and the kingly throne in that palace, and the +Tarquinian name, elect and call you king. Or if you have too little +spirit for this, why do you disappoint the state? Why suffer yourself +to be looked up to as a prince? Get hence to Tarquinii or Corinth. +Sink back again to your original stock, more like your brother than +your father." By chiding him with these and other words, she urged on +the young man: nor could she rest herself, at the thought that though +Tanaquil, a woman of foreign birth, had been able to conceive and +carry out so vast a project, as to bestow two thrones in succession on +her husband, and then on her son-in-law, she, sprung from royal blood, +had no decisive influence in bestowing and taking away a kingdom. +Tarquinius, driven on by the blind passion of the woman, began to go +round and solicit the support of the patricians, especially those of +the younger families:[46] he reminded them of his father's kindness, +and claimed a return for it, enticed the young men by presents, +increased his influence everywhere both by making magnificent promises +on his own part, as well as by accusations against the king. At +length, as soon as the time seemed convenient for carrying out his +purpose, he rushed into the forum, accompanied by a band of armed men; +then, while all were struck with dismay, seating himself on the throne +before the senate-house, he ordered the fathers to be summoned to the +senate-house by the crier to attend King Tarquinius. They assembled +immediately, some having been already prepared for this, others +through fear, lest it should prove dangerous to them not to have come, +astounded at such a strange and unheard-of event, and considering that +the reign of Servius was now at an end. Then Tarquinius began his +invectives with his immediate ancestors: That a slave, the son of a +slave, after the shameful death of his father, without an interregnum +being adopted, as on former occasions, without any election being +held, without the suffrages of the people, or the sanction of the +fathers, he had taken possession of the kingdom by the gift of a +woman; that so born, so created king, a strong supporter of the most +degraded class, to which he himself belonged, through a hatred of the +high station of others, he had deprived the leading men of the state +of their land and divided it among the very lowest; that he had laid +all the burdens, which were formerly shared by all alike, on the chief +members of the community; that he had instituted the census, in order +that the fortune of the wealthier citizens might be conspicuous in +order to excite envy, and ready to hand, that out of it he might +bestow largesses on the most needy, whenever he pleased. + +Servius, aroused by the alarming announcement, having come upon the +scene during this harangue, immediately shouted with a loud voice from +the porch of the senate-house: "What means this, Tarquin? By what +audacity hast thou dared to summon the fathers, while I am still +alive, or to sit on my throne?" When the other haughtily replied, +that he, a king's son, was occupying the throne of his father, a much +fitter successor to the throne than a slave; that he had insulted his +masters full long enough by shuffling insolence, a shout arose from +the partisans of both, the people rushed into the senate-house, and it +was evident that whoever came off victor would gain the throne. Then +Tarquin, forced by actual necessity to proceed to extremities, having +a decided advantage both in years and strength, seized Servius by the +waist, and having carried him out of the senate-house, hurled him +down the steps to the bottom. He then returned to the senate house +to assemble the senate. The king's officers and attendants took to +flight. The king himself, almost lifeless (when he was returning home +with his royal retinue frightened to death and had reached the top of +the Cyprian Street), was slain by those who had been sent by Tarquin, +and had overtaken him in his flight. As the act is not inconsistent +with the rest of her atrocious conduct, it is believed to have been +done by Tullia's advice. Anyhow, as is generally admitted, driving +into the forum in her chariot, unabashed by the crowd of men present, +she called her husband out of the senate-house, and was the first to +greet him, king; and when, being bidden by him to withdraw from such a +tumult, she was returning home, and had reached the top of the Cyprian +Street, where Diana's chapel lately stood, as she was turning on the +right to the Urian Hill, in order to ride up to the Esquiline, the +driver stopped terrified, and drew in his reins, and pointed out to +his mistress the body of the murdered Servius lying on the ground. +On this occasion a revolting and inhuman crime is said to have been +committed, and the place bears record of it. They call it the Wicked +Street, where Tullia, frantic and urged on by the avenging furies of +her sister and husband, is said to have driven her chariot over her +father's body, and to have carried a portion of the blood of her +murdered father on her blood-stained chariot, herself also defiled +and sprinkled with it, to her own and her husband's household gods, +through whose vengeance results corresponding with the evil beginning +of the reign were soon destined to follow. Servius Tullius reigned +forty-four years in such a manner that it was no easy task even for a +good and moderate successor to compete with him. However, this also +has proved an additional source of renown to him that together with +him perished all just and legitimate reigns. This same authority, so +mild and so moderate, because it was vested in one man, some say that +he nevertheless had intended to resign, had not the wickedness of his +family interfered with him as he was forming plans for the liberation +of his country. + +After this period Lucius Tarquinius began to reign, whose acts +procured him the surname of Proud, for he, the son-in-law, refused his +father-in-law burial, alleging that even Romulus was not buried after +death. He put to death the principal senators, whom he suspected +of having favoured the cause of Servius. Then, conscious that the +precedent of obtaining the crown by evil means might be borrowed from +him and employed against himself, he surrounded his person with a +body-guard of armed men, for he had no claim to the kingdom except +force, as being one who reigned without either the order of the people +or the sanction of the senate. To this was added the fact that, as he +reposed no hope in the affection of his citizens, he had to secure his +kingdom by terror; and in order to inspire a greater number with this, +he carried out the investigation of capital cases solely by himself +without assessors, and under that pretext had it in his power to put +to death, banish, or fine, not only those who were suspected or hated, +but those also from whom he could expect to gain nothing else but +plunder. The number of the fathers more particularly being in this +manner diminished, he determined to elect none into the senate in +their place, that the order might become more contemptible owing +to this very reduction in numbers, and that it might feel the less +resentment at no business being transacted by it. For he was the first +of the kings who violated the custom derived from his predecessors of +consulting the senate on all matters, and administered the business +of the state by taking counsel with his friends alone. War, peace, +treaties, alliances, all these he contracted and dissolved with +whomsoever he pleased, without the sanction of the people and senate, +entirely on his own responsibility. The nation of the Latins he was +particularly anxious to attach to him, so that by foreign influence +also he might be more secure among his own subjects; and he contracted +ties not only of hospitality but also of marriage with their leading +men. On Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, who was by far the most eminent +of those who bore the Latin name, being descended, if we believe +tradition, from Ulysses and the goddess Circe, he bestowed his +daughter in marriage, and by this match attached to himself many of +his kinsmen and friends. + +The influence of Tarquin among the chief men of the Latins being +now considerable, he issued an order that they should assemble on a +certain day at the grove of Ferentina,[47] saying that there were +matters of common interest about which he wished to confer with them. +They assembled in great numbers at daybreak. Tarquinius himself kept +the day indeed, but did not arrive until shortly before sunset. Many +matters were there discussed in the meeting throughout the day in +various conversations. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia inveighed violently +against the absent Tarquin, saying that it was no wonder the surname +of Proud was given him at Rome; for so they now called him secretly +and in whispers, but still generally. Could anything show more +haughtiness than this insolent mockery of the entire Latin nation? +After their chiefs had been summoned so great a distance from home, +he who had proclaimed the meeting did not attend; assuredly their +patience was being tried, in order that, if they submitted to the +yoke, he might crush them when at his mercy. For who could fail to see +that he was aiming at sovereignty over the Latins? This sovereignty, +if his own countrymen had done well in having intrusted it to him, or +if it had been intrusted and not seized on by murder, the Latins also +ought to intrust to him (and yet not even so, inasmuch as he was a +foreigner). But if his own subjects were dissatisfied with him (seeing +that they were butchered one after another, driven into exile, and +deprived of their property), what better prospects were held out to +the Latins? If they listened to him, they would depart thence, each to +his own home, and take no more notice of the day of meeting than he +who had proclaimed it. When this man, mutinous and full of daring, and +one who had obtained influence at home by such methods, was pressing +these and other observations to the same effect, Tarquin appeared on +the scene. This put an end to his harangue. All turned away from him +to salute Tarquin, who, on silence being proclaimed, being advised by +those next him to make some excuse for having come so late, said that +he had been chosen arbitrator between a father and a son: that, from +his anxiety to reconcile them, he had delayed: and, because that duty +had taken up that day, that on the morrow he would carry out what he +had determined. They say that he did not make even that observation +unrebuked by Turnus, who declared that no controversy could be more +quickly decided than one between father and son, and that it could be +settled in a few words--unless the son submitted to the father, he +would be punished. + +The Arician withdrew from the meeting, uttering these reproaches +against the Roman king. Tarquin, feeling the matter much more sorely +than he seemed to, immediately set about planning the death of Turnus, +in order to inspire the Latins with the same terror as that with which +he had crushed the spirits of his own subjects at home: and because +he could not be put to death openly, by virtue of his authority, he +accomplished the ruin of this innocent man by bringing a false charge +against him. By means of some Aricians of the opposite party, he +bribed a servant of Turnus with gold, to allow a great number +of swords to be secretly brought into his lodging. When these +preparations had been completed in the course of a single night, +Tarquin, having summoned the chief of the Latins to him a little +before day, as if alarmed by some strange occurrence, said that +his delay of yesterday, which had been caused as it were by some +providential care of the gods, had been the means of preservation to +himself and to them; that he had been told that destruction was being +plotted by Turnus for him and the chiefs of the Latin peoples, that he +alone might obtain the government of the Latins. That he would have +attacked them yesterday at the meeting; that the attempt had been +deferred, because the person who summoned the meeting was absent, who +was the chief object of his attack? That that was the reason of the +abuse heaped upon him during his absence, because he had disappointed +his hopes by delaying. That he had no doubt that, if the truth were +told him, he would come attended by a band of conspirators, at break +of day, when the assembly met, ready prepared and armed. That it was +reported that a great number of swords had been conveyed to his house. +Whether that was true or not, could be known immediately. He requested +them to accompany him thence to the house of Turnus. Both the daring +temper of Turnus, and his harangue of the previous day, and the delay +of Tarquin, rendered the matter suspicious, because it seemed possible +that the murder might have been put off in consequence of the latter. +They started with minds inclined indeed to believe, yet determined to +consider everything else false, unless the swords were found. When +they arrived there, Turnus was aroused from sleep, and surrounded +by guards: the slaves, who, from affection to their master, were +preparing to use force, being secured, and the swords, which had been +concealed, drawn out from all corners of the lodging, then indeed +there seemed no doubt about the matter: Turnus was loaded with +chains, and forthwith a meeting of the Latins was summoned amid great +confusion. There, on the swords being exhibited in the midst, such +violent hatred arose against him, that, without being allowed a +defence, he was put to death in an unusual manner; he was thrown into +the basin of the spring of Ferentina, a hurdle was placed over him, +and stones being heaped up in it, he was drowned. + +Tarquin then recalled the Latins to the meeting, and having applauded +them for having inflicted well-merited punishment on Turnus, as +one convicted of murder, by his attempt to bring about a change of +government, spoke as follows: That he could indeed proceed by a +long-established right; because, since all the Latins were sprung from +Alba, they were comprehended in that treaty by which, dating from the +time of Tullus, the entire Alban nation, with its colonies, had passed +under the dominion of Rome. However, for the sake of the interest of +all parties, he thought rather that that treaty should be renewed, and +that the Latins should rather share in the enjoyment of the prosperity +of the Roman people, than be constantly either apprehending or +suffering the demolition of their towns and the devastation of their +lands, which they had formerly suffered in the reign of Ancus, and +afterward in the reign of his own father. The Latins were easily +persuaded, though in that treaty the advantage lay on the side of +Rome: however, they both saw that the chiefs of the Latin nation sided +with and supported the king, and Turnus was a warning example, still +fresh in their recollections, of the danger that threatened each +individually, if he should make any opposition. Thus the treaty was +renewed, and notice was given to the young men of the Latins that, +according to the treaty, they should attend in considerable numbers +in arms, on a certain day, at the grove of Ferentina. And when they +assembled from all the states according to the edict of the Roman +king, in order that they should have neither a general of their own, +nor a separate command, nor standards of their own, he formed mixed +companies of Latins and Romans so as out of a pair of companies to +make single companies, and out of single companies to make a pair: and +when the companies had thus been doubled, he appointed centurions over +them. + +Nor was Tarquin, though a tyrannical prince in time of peace, +an incompetent general in war; nay, he would have equalled his +predecessors in that art, had not his degeneracy in other ways +likewise detracted from his merit in this respect. He first began the +war against the Volsci, which was to last two hundred years after his +time, and took Suessa Pometia from them by storm; and when by the sale +of the spoils he had realized forty talents of silver, he conceived +the idea of building a temple to Jupiter on such a magnificent scale +that it should be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman +Empire, and of the dignity of the place itself: for the building of +this temple he set apart the money realized by the sale of the spoils. +Soon after a war claimed his attention, which proved more protracted +than he had expected, in which, having in vain attempted to storm +Gabii,[48] a city in the neighbourhood, when, after suffering a +repulse from the walls, he was deprived also of all hope of taking it +by siege, he assailed it by fraud and stratagem, a method by no means +natural to the Romans. For when, as if the war had been abandoned, +he pretended to be busily engaged in laying the foundations of the +temple, and with other works in the city, Sextus, the youngest of his +three sons, according to a preconcerted arrangement, fled to Gabii, +complaining of the unbearable cruelty of his father toward himself: +that his tyranny had now shifted from others against his own family, +and that he was also uneasy at the number of his own children, and +intended to bring about the same desolation in his own house as he had +done in the senate, in order that he might leave behind him no issue, +no heir to his kingdom. That for his own part, as he had escaped from +the midst of the swords and weapons of his father, he was persuaded +he could find no safety anywhere save among the enemies of Lucius +Tarquinius: for--let them make no mistake--the war, which it was now +pretended had been abandoned, still threatened them, and he would +attack them when off their guard on a favourable opportunity. But if +there were no refuge for suppliants among them, he would traverse all +Latium, and would apply next to the Volscians, Aequans, and Hernicans, +until he should come to people who knew how to protect children from +the impious and cruel persecutions of parents. That perhaps he would +even find some eagerness to take up arms and wage war against this +most tyrannical king and his equally savage subjects. As he seemed +likely to go further, enraged as he was, if they paid him no regard, +he was kindly received by the Gabians. They bade him not be surprised, +if one at last behaved in the same manner toward his children as he +had done toward his subjects and allies--that he would ultimately vent +his rage on himself, if other objects failed him--that his own coming +was very acceptable to them, and they believed that in a short time it +would come to pass that by his aid the war would be transferred from +the gates of Gabii up to the very walls of Rome. + +Upon this, he was admitted into their public councils, in which, +while, with regard to other matters, he declared himself willing +to submit to the judgment of the elders of Gabii, who were better +acquainted with them, yet he every now and again advised them to renew +the war, claiming for himself superior knowledge in this, on the +ground of being well acquainted with the strength of both nations, +and also because he knew that the king's pride, which even his own +children had been unable to endure, had become decidedly hateful to +his subjects. As he thus by degrees stirred up the nobles of the +Gabians to renew the war, and himself accompanied the most active of +their youth on plundering parties and expeditions, and unreasonable +credit was increasingly given to all his words and actions, framed +as they were with the object of deceiving, he was at last chosen +general-in-chief in the war. In the course of this war when--the +people being still ignorant of what was going on--trifling skirmishes +with the Romans took place, in which the Gabians generally had the +advantage, then all the Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, were +eager to believe that Sextus Tarquinius had been sent to them as their +general, by the favour of the gods. By exposing himself equally +with the soldiers to fatigues and dangers, and by his generosity in +bestowing the plunder, he became so loved by the soldiers, that his +father Tarquin had not greater power at Rome than his son at Gabii. +Accordingly, when he saw he had sufficient strength collected to +support him in any undertaking, he sent one of his confidants to his +father at Rome to inquire what he wished him to do, seeing the gods +had granted him to be all-powerful at Gabii. To this courier no +answer by word of mouth was given, because, I suppose, he appeared of +questionable fidelity. The king went into a garden of the palace, as +if in deep thought, followed by his son's messenger; walking there for +some time without uttering a word, he is said to have struck off +the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff.[49] The messenger, +wearied with asking and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii +apparently without having accomplished his object, and told what +he had himself said and seen, adding that Tarquin, either through +passion, aversion to him, or his innate pride, had not uttered a +single word. As soon as it was clear to Sextus what his father wished, +and what conduct he enjoined by those intimations without words, he +put to death the most eminent men of the city, some by accusing them +before the people, as well as others, who from their own personal +unpopularity were liable to attack. Many were executed publicly, and +some, in whose case impeachment was likely to prove less plausible, +were secretly assassinated. Some who wished to go into voluntary exile +were allowed to do so, others were banished, and their estates, as +well as the estates of those who were put to death, publicly divided +in their absence. Out of these largesses and plunder were distributed; +and by the sweets of private gain the sense of public calamities +became extinguished, till the state of Gabii, destitute of counsel and +assistance, surrendered itself without a struggle into the power of +the Roman king. + +Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the +nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. He +next turned his attention to the affairs of the city. The chief of +these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the +Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind +posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the +son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion +of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to +Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved +to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several +of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the +battle against Romulus, and afterward consecrated and dedicated by +him. At the very outset of the foundation of this work it is said that +the gods exerted their divinity to declare the future greatness of so +mighty an empire; for, though the birds declared for the unhallowing +of all the other chapels, they did not declare themselves in favour +of it in the case of that of Terminus.[51] This omen and augury were +taken to import that the fact of Terminus not changing his residence, +and that he was the only one of the gods who was not called out of +the consecrated bounds devoted to his worship, was a presage of the +lasting stability of the state in general. This being accepted as +an omen of its lasting character, there followed another prodigy +portending the greatness of the empire. It was reported that the head +of a man, with the face entire, was found by the workmen when digging +the foundation of the temple. The sight of this phenomenon by no +doubtful indications portended that this temple should be the seat of +empire, and the capital of the world; and so declared the soothsayers, +both those who were in the city, and those whom they had summoned +from Etruria, to consult on this subject. The king's mind was thereby +encouraged to greater expense; in consequence of which the spoils +of Pometia, which had been destined to complete the work, scarcely +sufficed for laying the foundation. On this account I am more +inclined to believe Fabius (not to mention his being the more ancient +authority), that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who says +that forty thousand pounds of silver by weight were set apart for that +purpose, a sum of money neither to be expected from the spoils of any +one city in those times, and one that would more than suffice for the +foundations of any building, even the magnificent buildings of the +present day. + +Tarquin, intent upon the completion of the temple, having sent for +workmen from all parts of Etruria, employed on it not only the public +money, but also workmen from the people; and when this labour, in +itself no inconsiderable one, was added to their military service, +still the people murmured less at building the temples of the gods +with their own hands, than at being transferred, as they afterward +were, to other works, which, while less dignified, required +considerably greater toil; such were the erection of benches in the +circus, and conducting underground the principal sewer, the receptacle +of all the filth of the city; two works the like of which even modern +splendour has scarcely been able to produce.[52] After the people had +been employed in these works, because he both considered that such +a number of inhabitants was a burden to the city where there was no +employment for them, and further, was anxious that the frontiers of +the empire should be more extensively occupied by sending colonists, +he sent colonists to Signia[53] and Circeii,[54] to serve as defensive +outposts hereafter to the city on land and sea. While he was thus +employed a frightful prodigy appeared to him. A serpent gliding out of +a wooden pillar, after causing dismay and flight in the palace, not so +much struck the king's heart with sudden terror, as it filled him with +anxious solicitude. Accordingly, since Etruscan soothsayers were only +employed for public prodigies, terrified at this so to say private +apparition, he determined to send to the oracle of Delphi, the most +celebrated in the world; and not venturing to intrust the responses of +the oracle to any other person, he despatched his two sons to Greece +through lands unknown at that time, and yet more unknown seas. Titus +and Arruns were the two who set out. They were accompanied by Lucius +Junius Brutus, the son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a youth of an +entirely different cast of mind from that of which he had assumed the +disguise. He, having heard that the chief men of the city, among them +his own brother, had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave +nothing in regard to his ability that might be dreaded by the king, +nor anything in his fortune that might be coveted, and thus to be +secure in the contempt in which he was held, seeing that there was but +little protection in justice. Therefore, having designedly fashioned +himself to the semblance of foolishness, and allowing himself and his +whole estate to become the prey of the king, he did not refuse to take +even the surname of Brutus,[55] that, under the cloak of this surname, +the genius that was to be the future liberator of the Roman people, +lying concealed, might bide its opportunity. He, in reality being +brought to Delphi by the Tarquinii rather as an object of ridicule +than as a companion, is said to have borne with him as an offering to +Apollo a golden rod, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed out +for the purpose, a mystical emblem of his own mind. When they arrived +there, and had executed their father's commission, the young men's +minds were seized with the desire of inquiring to which of them the +sovereignty of Rome should fall. They say that the reply was uttered +from the inmost recesses of the cave, "Young men, whichever of you +shall first kiss his mother shall enjoy the sovereign power at Rome." +The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept secret with the utmost +care, that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might be ignorant +of the response of the oracle, and have no share in the kingdom; they +then cast lots among themselves, to decide which of them should first +kiss his mother, after they had returned to Rome. Brutus, thinking +that the Pythian response had another meaning, as if he had stumbled +and fallen, touched the ground with his lips, she being, forsooth, the +common mother of all mankind. After this they returned to Rome, where +preparations were being made with the greatest vigour for a war +against the Rutulians. + +The Rutulians, a very wealthy nation, considering the country and age +in which they lived, were at that time in possession of Ardea.[56] +Their wealth was itself the actual occasion of the war: for the Roman +king, whose resources had been drained by the magnificence of his +public works, was desirous of enriching himself, and also of soothing +the minds of his subjects by a large present of booty, as they, +independently of the other instances of his tyranny, were incensed +against his government, because they felt indignant that they had been +kept so long employed by the king as mechanics, and in labour only fit +for slaves. An attempt was made, to see if Ardea could be taken at the +first assault; when that proved unsuccessful, the enemy began to be +distressed by a blockade, and by siege-works. In the standing camp, as +usually happens when a war is tedious rather than severe, furloughs +were easily obtained, more so by the officers, however, than the +common soldiers. The young princes also sometimes spent their leisure +hours in feasting and mutual entertainments. One day as they +were drinking in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus +Tarquinius, the son of Egerius, was also at supper, they fell to +talking about their wives. Every one commended his own extravagantly: +a dispute thereupon arising, Collatinus said there was no occasion for +words, that it might be known in a few hours how far his wife Lucretia +excelled all the rest. "If, then," added he, "we have any youthful +vigour, why should we not mount our horses and in person examine the +behaviour of our wives? Let that be the surest proof to every one, +which shall meet his eyes on the unexpected arrival of the husband." +They were heated with wine. "Come on, then," cried all. They +immediately galloped to Rome, where they arrived when darkness was +beginning to fall. From thence they proceeded to Collatia,[57] +where they found Lucretia, not after the manner of the king's +daughters-in-law, whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious +banqueting with their companions, but, although the night was far +advanced, employed at her wool, sitting in the middle of the house in +the midst of her maids who were working around her. The honour of the +contest regarding the women rested with Lucretia. Her husband on his +arrival, and the Tarquinii, were kindly received; the husband, proud +of his victory, gave the young princes a polite invitation. There an +evil desire of violating Lucretia by force seized Sextus Tarquinius; +both her beauty, and her proved chastity urged him on. Then, after +this youthful frolic of the night, they returned to the camp. + +After an interval of a few days, Sextus Tarquinius, without the +knowledge of Collatinus, came to Collatia with one attendant only: +there he was made welcome by them, as they had no suspicion of his +design, and, having been conducted after supper into the guest +chamber, burning with passion, when all around seemed sufficiently +secure, and all fast asleep, he came to the bedside of Lucretia, as +she lay asleep, with a drawn sword, and with his left hand pressing +down the woman's breast, said: "Be silent, Lucretia; I am Sextus +Tarquinius. I have a sword in my hand. You shall die if you utter a +word." When the woman, awaking terrified from sleep, saw there was no +help, and that impending death was nigh at hand, then Tarquin declared +his passion, entreated, mixed threats with entreaties, tried all means +to influence the woman's mind. When he saw she was resolved, and +uninfluenced even by the fear of death, to the fear of death he added +the fear of dishonour, declaring that he would lay a murdered slave +naked by her side when dead, so that it should be said that she had +been slain in base adultery. When by the terror of this disgrace his +lust (as it were victorious) had overcome her inflexible chastity, +and Tarquin had departed, exulting in having triumphed over a woman's +honour by force, Lucretia, in melancholy distress at so dreadful a +misfortune, despatched one and the same messenger both to her father +at Rome, and to her husband at Ardea, bidding them come each with a +trusty friend; that they must do so, and use despatch, for a monstrous +deed had been wrought. Spurius Lucretius came accompanied by Publius +Valerius, the son of Volesus, Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in +company with whom, as he was returning to Rome, he happened to be met +by his wife's messenger. They found Lucretia sitting in her chamber +in sorrowful dejection. On the arrival of her friends the tears burst +from her eyes; and on her husband inquiring, whether all was well, "By +no means," she replied, "for how can it be well with a woman who +has lost her honour? The traces of another man are on your bed, +Collatinus. But the body only has been violated, the mind is +guiltless; death shall be my witness. But give me your right hands, +and your word of honour, that the adulterer shall not come off +unpunished. It is Sextus Tarquinius, who, an enemy last night in +the guise of a guest has borne hence by force of arms, a triumph +destructive to me, and one that will prove so to himself also, if you +be men." All gave their word in succession; they attempted to console +her, grieved in heart as she was, by turning the guilt of the act from +her, constrained as she had been by force, upon the perpetrator of +the crime, declaring that it is the mind sins, not the body; and that +where there is no intention, there is no guilt. "It is for you to +see," said she, "what is due to him. As for me, though I acquit myself +of guilt, I do not discharge myself from punishment; nor shall any +woman survive her dishonour by pleading the example of Lucretia." She +plunged a knife, which she kept concealed beneath her garment, into +her heart, and falling forward on the wound, dropped down expiring. +Her husband and father shrieked aloud. + +While they were overwhelmed with grief, Brutus drew the knife out of +the wound, and, holding it up before him reeking with blood, said: "By +this blood, most pure before the outrage of a prince, I swear, and I +call you, O gods, to witness my oath, that I will henceforth pursue +Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wicked wife, and all their children, +with fire, sword, and all other violent means in my power; nor will +I ever suffer them or any other to reign at Rome." Then he gave the +knife to Collatinus, and after him to Lucretius and Valerius, who were +amazed at such an extraordinary occurrence, and could not understand +the newly developed character of Brutus. However, they all took the +oath as they were directed, and, their sorrow being completely changed +to wrath, followed the lead of Brutus, who from that time ceased not +to call upon them to abolish the regal power. They carried forth the +body of Lucretia from her house, and conveyed it to the forum, where +they caused a number of persons to assemble, as generally happens, +by reason of the unheard-of and atrocious nature of an extraordinary +occurrence. They complained, each for himself, of the royal villainy +and violence. Both the grief of the father affected them, and also +Brutus, who reproved their tears and unavailing complaints, and +advised them to take up arms, as became men and Romans, against those +who dared to treat them like enemies. All the most spirited youths +voluntarily presented themselves in arms; the rest of the young men +followed also. From thence, after an adequate garrison had been left +at the gates at Collatia, and sentinels appointed, to prevent any one +giving intelligence of the disturbance to the royal party, the rest +set out for Rome in arms under the conduct of Brutus. When they +arrived there, the armed multitude caused panic and confusion wherever +they went. Again, when they saw the principal men of the state placing +themselves at their head, they thought that, whatever it might be, +it was not without good reason. Nor did the heinousness of the event +excite less violent emotions at Rome than it had done at Collatia: +accordingly, they ran from all parts of the city into the forum, and +as soon as they came thither, the public crier summoned them to attend +the tribune of the celeres [58], with which office Brutus happened to +be at the time invested. There a harangue was delivered by him, by no +means of the style and character which had been counterfeited by him +up to that day, concerning the violence and lust of Sextus Tarquinius, +the horrid violation of Lucretia and her lamentable death, the +bereavement of Tricipitinus,[59], in whose eyes the cause of his +daughter's death was more shameful and deplorable than that death +itself. To this was added the haughty insolence of the king himself, +and the sufferings and toils of the people, buried in the earth in the +task of cleansing ditches and sewers: he declared that Romans, the +conquerors of all the surrounding states, instead of warriors had +become labourers and stone-cutters. The unnatural murder of King +Servius Tullius was recalled, and the fact of his daughter having +driven over the body of her father in her impious chariot, and the +gods who avenge parents were invoked by him. By stating these and, I +believe, other facts still more shocking, which, though by no means +easy to be detailed by writers, the then heinous state of things +suggested, he so worked upon the already incensed multitude, that they +deprived the king of his authority, and ordered the banishment of +Lucius Tarquinius with his wife and children. He himself, having +selected and armed some of the younger men, who gave in their names as +volunteers, set out for the camp at Ardea to rouse the army against +the king: the command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had been +already appointed prefect of the city by the king. During this tumult +Tullia fled from her house, both men and women cursing her wherever +she went, and invoking upon her the wrath of the furies, the avengers +of parents. + +News of these transactions having reached the camp, when the king, +alarmed at this sudden revolution, was proceeding to Rome to quell the +disturbances, Brutus--for he had had notice of his approach--turned +aside, to avoid meeting him; and much about the same time Brutus and +Tarquinius arrived by different routes, the one at Ardea, the other at +Rome. The gates were shut against Tarquin, and sentence of banishment +declared against him; the camp welcomed with great joy the deliverer +of the city, and the king's sons were expelled. Two of them followed +their father, and went into exile to Caere, a city of Etruria. Sextus +Tarquinius, who had gone to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain +by the avengers of the old feuds, which he had stirred up against +himself by his rapines and murders. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned +twenty-five years: the regal form of government lasted, from the +building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and forty-four +years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius +Collatinus, were elected by the prefect of at the comitia of +centuries, according to the commentaries of Servius Tullius. + + +[Footnote 1: Books I-III are based upon the translation by John Henry +Freese, but in many places have been revised or retranslated by +Duffield Osborne.] + +[Footnote 2: The king was originally the high priest, his office more +sacerdotal than military: as such he would have the selection and +appointment of the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of Vesta, the +hearth-goddess. Their chief duty was to keep the sacred fire burning +("the fire that burns for aye"), and to guard the relics in the Temple +of Vesta. If convicted of unchastity they were buried alive.] + +[Footnote 3: Surely there is no lack of "historical criticism" here +and on a subject where a Roman writer might be pardoned for some +credulity.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 4: Livy ignores the more accepted and prettier tradition +that this event took place where the sacred fig-tree originally stood, +and that later it was miraculously transplanted to the comitium by +Attius Navius, the famous augur, "That it might stand in the midst of +the meetings of the Romans"--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: According to Varro, Rome was founded B.C. 753; according +to Cato, B.C. 751. Livy here derives Roma from Romulus, but this is +rejected by modern etymologists; according to Mommsen the word means +"stream-town," from its position on the Tiber.] + +[Footnote 6: The remarkable beauty of the white or mouse-coloured +cattle of central Italy gives a touch of realism to this story.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The introduction of the art of writing among the Romans +was ascribed to Evander. The Roman alphabet was derived from the +Greek, through the Grecian (Chalcidian) colony at Cumae.] + +[Footnote 8: The title patres originally signified the heads of +families, and was in early times used of the patrician senate, as +selected from these. When later, plebeians were admitted into the +senate, the members of the senate were all called patres, while +patricians, as opposed to plebeians, enjoyed certain distinctions and +privileges.] + +[Footnote 9: This story of the rape of the Sabines belongs to the +class of what are called "etiological" myths--i. e., stories invented +to account for a rite or custom, or to explain local names or +characteristics. The custom prevailed among Greeks and Romans of the +bridegroom pretending to carry off the bride from her home by force. +Such a custom still exists among the nomad tribes of Asia Minor. The +rape of the Sabine women was invented to account for this custom.] + +[Footnote 10: The spolia opima (grand spoils)--a term used to denote +the arms taken by one general from another--were only gained twice +afterward during the history of the republic; in B.C. 437, when A. +Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius of Veii; and in B.C. 222, when +the consul M. Claudius Marcellus slew Viridomarus, chief of the +Insubrian Gauls.] + +[Footnote 11: The place afterward retained its name, even when filled +up and dry. Livy (Book VII) gives a different reason for the name: +that it was so called from one Marcus Curtius having sprung, armed, +and on horseback, several hundred years ago (B.C. 362), into a gulf +that suddenly opened in the forum; it being imagined that it would +not close until an offering was made of what was most valuable in the +state--i. e., a warrior armed and on horseback. According to Varro, +it was a locus fulguritus (i. e., struck by lightning), which was +inclosed by a consul named Curtius.] + +[Footnote 12: Supposed to be derived from "Lucumo," the name or, +according to more accepted commentators, title of an Etruscan chief +who came to help Romulus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 13: The inhabitants of Fidenae, about five miles from Rome, +situated on the Tiber, near Castel Giubileo.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: About twelve and a half miles north of Rome, close to +the little river Cremera; it was one of the most important of the +twelve confederate Etruscan towns. Plutarch describes it as the +bulwark of Etruria: not inferior to Rome in military equipment and +numbers.] + +[Footnote 15: A naïvely circumstantial story characteristically told. +Though a republican, it is quite evident that Livy wishes to convey +the idea that Romulus, having by the creation of a body-guard aspired +to tyrannical power, was assassinated by the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: The reading in this section is uncertain.] + +[Footnote 17: Two interpretations are given of this passage--(1) +that out of each decury one senator was chosen by lot to make up the +governing body of ten; (2) that each decury as a whole held office in +succession, so that one decury was in power for fifty days.] + +[Footnote 18: At this time a grove: later it became one of the +artificers' quarters, lying beyond the forum and in the jaws of the +suburra, which stretched away over the level ground to the foot of the +Esquiline and Quirinal Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the +first month being March, and the number of days in the year only 304, +which corresponded neither with the course of the sun nor moon. Numa, +who added the two months of January and February, divided the year +into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the +lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted +355 days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar +year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days; this in +8 years amounted to (11-1/4 x 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided +into 2 months of 22, and 2 of 23 days [(2 x 22) + (2 x 23) = 90], +and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial +periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only +66 days instead of 90 days--i. e., he inserted 3 months of only 22 +days each. The reason was, because he adopted 355 days as the length +of his lunar year instead of 354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial +periods) produced an error of 24 days; this error was exactly +compensated by intercalating only 66 days (90--24) in the third +octennial period. The intercalations were generally made in the month +of February, after the 23d of the month. The management was left +to the pontiffs--ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent--dies +congruerent; "that the days might correspond to the same +starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out." +That is, taking for instance the Tropic of Cancer for the place or +starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in +that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object +was so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was +observed to arrive at that same meta or starting-point again, should +also be called the 21st of June.] + +[Footnote 20: A more general form of the legend ran to the effect that +but one of these shields fell from heaven, and that the others +were made like it, to lessen the chance of the genuine one being +stolen.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: The chief of the fetiales.] + +[Footnote 22: This vervain was used for religious purposes, and +plucked up by the roots from consecrated ground; it was carried by +ambassadors to protect them from violence.] + +[Footnote 23: This gate became later the starting-point of the Appian +Way.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 24: An imaginary sacred line that marked the bounds of the +city. It did not always coincide with the line of the walls, but was +extended from time to time. Such extension could only be made by +a magistrate who had extended the boundaries of the empire by his +victories,--D.O.] + +[Footnote 25: Literally, "Horatian javelins."--D.O.] + +[Footnote: Evidently so established after the destruction of the +inhabitants in the storming (see p. 17, above).--D. O.] + +[Footnote 27: Tiber and Anio.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 28: Scourging and beheading, scourging to death, burying +alive, and crucifixion (for slaves) may make us question the justice +of this boast. Foreign generals captured in war were only strangled. +Altogether, the Roman indifference to suffering was very marked as +compared with the humanity of the Greeks.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 29: The Lares were of human origin, being only the deified +ancestors of the family: the Penates of divine origin, the tutelary +gods of the family.] + +[Footnote 30: "Curia Hostilia." It was at the northwest corner of the +forum, northeast of the comitium.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 31: Identified with Juno.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 32: This story makes us suspect that it was the case of +another warlike king who had incurred the enmity of the senate. +The patricians alone controlled or were taught in religious +matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 33: Supposed to be an Etruscan goddess, afterward identified +with Jana, the female form of Janus, as was customary with the +Romans.--D.O.] The Janiculum [Footnote: The heights across the +Tiber.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Called Mamertinus; though apparently not until the +Middle Ages.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucumo seems to have been, originally at least, an +Etruscan title rather than name.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: No one was noble who could not show images of his +ancestors: and no one was allowed to have an image who had not filled +the highest offices of state: this was called jus imaginum.] + +[Footnote 37: This part of the Via Nova probably corresponded pretty +closely with the present Via S. Teodoro, and Tarquin's house +is supposed to have stood not far from the church of Sta. +Anastasia.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A white toga with horizontal purple stripes. This was +originally the royal robe. Later it became the ceremonial dress of +the equestrian order. The Salii, priests of Mars Gradivus, also wore +it--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: This was a quinquennial registering of every man's age, +family, profession, property, and residence, by which the amount of +his taxes was regulated. Formerly each full citizen contributed an +equal amount. Servius introduced a regulation of the taxes according +to property qualifications, and clients and plebeians alike had to +pay their contribution, if they possessed the requisite amount of +property.] + +[Footnote 40: Or, "pounds weight of bronze," originally reckoned by +the possession of a certain number of jugera (20 jugera being equal to +5,000 asses).] + +[Footnote 41: Between the ages of forty-six and sixty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: Between the ages of seventeen and forty-six--D.O.]. + +[Footnote 43: A ceremony of purification, from sus, ovis, and taurus: +the three victims were led three times round the army and sacrificed +to Mars. The ceremony took place every fifth year] + +[Footnote 44: These were the walls of Rome down to about 271-276 A.D., +when the Emperor Aurelian began the walls that now inclose the +city. Remains of the Servian wall are numerous and of considerable +extent.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: On the summit of the Aventine.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: Those introduced by Tarquinius Priscus, as related +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: At the foot of the Alban Hill. The general councils of +the Latins were held here up to the time of their final subjugation.] + +[Footnote 48: A few ruins on the Via Praenestina, about nine miles +from the Porta Maggiore, mark the site of Gabii. They are on the bank +of the drained Lago Castiglione, whence Macaulay's "Gabii of the +Pool".--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: This message without words is the same as that which, +according to Herodotus, was sent by Thrasybulus of Miletus to +Periander of Corinth. The trick by which Sextus gained the confidence +of the people of Gabii is also related by him of Zophyrus and Darius.] + +[Footnote 50: The name "Tarpeian," as given from the Tarpeia, whose +story is told above, was generally confined to the rock or precipice +from which traitors were thrown. Its exact location on the Capitoline +Hill does not seem positively determined; in fact, most of the sites +on this hill have been subjects of considerable dispute.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: The god of boundaries. His action seems quite in keeping +with his office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: The Cloaca Maxima, upon which Rome still relies for +much of her drainage, is more generally attributed to Tarquinius +Priscus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: The modern Segni, upward of thirty miles from Rome, on +the Rome-Naples line.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 54: On the coast, near Terracina. The Promontoria Circeo is +the traditional site of the palace and grave of Circe, whose story is +told in the Odyssey.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 55: Dullard.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: In the Pomptine marshes, about twenty miles south of +Rome and five from the coast.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 57: Its site, about nine miles from Rome, on the road to +Tivoli, is now known as Lunghezza.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 58: The royal body-guard. See the story of Romulus +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: Spurius Lucretius.--D.O.] + + + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH + +The acts, civil and military, of the Roman people, henceforth free, +their annual magistrates, and the sovereignty of the laws, more +powerful than that of men, I will now proceed to recount. The haughty +insolence of the last king had caused this liberty to be the more +welcome: for the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all +in succession may be deservedly reckoned founders of those parts +at least of the city, which they independently added as new +dwelling-places for the population, which had been increased by +themselves. Nor is there any doubt that that same Brutus, who gained +such renown from the expulsion of King Superbus, would have acted to +the greatest injury of the public weal, if, through the desire of +liberty before the people were fit for it, he had wrested the kingdom +from any of the preceding kings. For what would have been the +consequence, if that rabble of shepherds and strangers, runaways from +their own peoples, had found, under the protection of an inviolable +sanctuary, either freedom, or at least impunity for former offences, +and, freed from all dread of regal authority, had begun to be +distracted by tribunician storms, and to engage in contests with the +fathers in a strange city, before the pledges of wives and children, +and affection for the soil itself, to which people become habituated +only by length of time, had united their affections? Their condition, +not yet matured, would have been destroyed by discord; but the +tranquillizing moderation of the government so fostered this +condition, and by proper nourishment brought it to such perfection, +that, when their strength was now developed, they were able to bring +forth the wholesome fruits of liberty. The first beginnings of +liberty, however, one may date from this period, rather because +the consular authority was made annual, than because of the royal +prerogative was in any way curtailed. The first consuls kept all the +privileges and outward signs of authority, care only being taken to +prevent the terror appearing doubled, should both have the fasces at +the same time. Brutus, with the consent of his colleague, was first +attended by the fasces, he who proved himself afterward as keen in +protecting liberty as he had previously shown himself in asserting it. +First of all he bound over the people, jealous of their newly-acquired +liberty, by an oath that they would suffer no one to be king in Rome, +for fear that later they might be influenced by the importunities +or bribes of the royal house. Next, that a full house might give +additional strength to the senate, he filled up the number of +senators, which had been diminished by the assassinations of +Tarquinius, to the full number of three hundred, by electing the +principal men of equestrian rank to fill their places: from this is +said to have been derived the custom of summoning into the senate both +the patres and those who were conscripti. They called those who +were elected, conscripti, enrolled, that is, as a new senate. It is +surprising how much that contributed to the harmony of the state, and +toward uniting the patricians and commons in friendship. + +Attention was then paid to religious matters, and, as certain public +functions had been regularly performed by the kings in person, to +prevent their loss being felt in any particular, they appointed a +king of the sacrifices.[1] This office they made subordinate to the +pontifex maximus, that the holder might not, if high office were added +to the title, prove detrimental to liberty, which was then their +principal care. And I do not know but that, by fencing it in on every +side to excess, even in the most trivial matters, they exceeded +bounds. For, though there was nothing else that gave offence, the name +of one of the consuls was an object of dislike to the state. +They declared that the Tarquins had been too much habituated to +sovereignty; that it had originated with Priscus: that Servius Tullius +had reigned next; that Tarquinius Superbus had not even, in spite of +the interval that had elapsed, given up all thoughts of the kingdom +as being the property of another, which it really was, but thought to +regain it by crime and violence, as if it were the heirloom of his +family; that after the expulsion of Superbus, the government was inthe +hands of Collatinus: that the Tarquins knew not how to live in a +private station; that the name pleased them not; that it was dangerous +to liberty. Such language, used at first by persons quietly sounding +the dispositions of the people, was circulated through the whole +state; and the people, now excited by suspicion, were summoned by +Brutus to a meeting. There first of all he read aloud the people's +oath: that they would neither suffer any one to be king, nor allow +any one to live at Rome from whom danger to liberty might arise. He +declared that this ought to be maintained with all their might, and +that nothing, that had any reference to it, ought to be treated with +indifference: that he said this with reluctance, for the sake of the +individual; and that he would not have said it, did not his affection +for the commonwealth predominate; that the people of Rome did not +believe that complete liberty had been recovered; that the regal +family, the regal name, was not only in the state but also in power; +that that was a stumbling-block, was a hindrance to liberty. "Do you, +Lucius Tarquinius," said he, "of your own free will, remove this +apprehension? We remember, we own it, you expelled the royal family; +complete your services: take hence the royal name; your property your +fellow-citizens shall not only hand over to you, by my advice, but, if +it is insufficient, they will liberally supply the want. Depart in a +spirit of friendship. Relieve the state from a dread which may be only +groundless. So firmly are men's minds persuaded that only with the +Tarquinian race will kingly power depart hence." Amazement at so +extraordinary and sudden an occurrence at first impeded the consul's +utterance; then, as he was commencing to speak, the chief men of the +state stood around him, and with pressing entreaties urged the same +request. The rest of them indeed had less weight with him, but +after Spurius Lucretius, superior to all the others in age and high +character, who was besides his own father-in-law, began to try various +methods, alternately entreating and advising, in order to induce him +to allow himself to be prevailed on by the general feeling of the +state, the consul, apprehensive that hereafter the same lot might +befall him, when his term of office had expired, as well as loss of +property and other additional disgrace, resigned his consulship, and +removing all his effects to Lavinium, withdrew from the city. Brutus, +according to a decree of the senate, proposed to the people, that all +who belonged to the family of the Tarquins should be banished from +Rome: in the assembly of centuries he elected Publius Valerius, with +whose assistance he had expelled the kings, as his colleague. + +Though nobody doubted that a war was impending from the Tarquins, yet +it broke out later than was generally expected; however, liberty was +well-nigh lost by fraud and treachery, a thing they never apprehended. +There were among the Roman youth several young men--and these of no +no rank--who, while the regal government lasted, had enjoyed greater +license in their pleasures, being the equals in age, boon companions +of the young Tarquins, and accustomed to live after the fashion of +princes. Missing that freedom, now that the privileges of all were +equalized,[2] they complained among themselves that the liberty of +others had turned out slavery for them: that a king was a human being, +from whom one could obtain what one wanted, whether the deed might be +an act of justice or of wrong; that there was room for favour and +good offices; that he could be angry, and forgive; that he knew the +difference between a friend and an enemy; that the laws were a deaf, +inexorable thing, more beneficial and advantageous for the poor than +for the rich; that they allowed no relaxation or indulgence, if one +transgressed due bounds; that it was perilous, amid so many human +errors, to have no security for life but innocence. While their minds +were already of their own accord thus discontented, ambassadors from +the royal family arrived unexpectedly, merely demanding restitution of +their personal property, without any mention of their return. After +their application had been heard in the senate, the deliberation about +it lasted for several days, as they feared that the non-restitution of +the property might be made a pretext for war, its restitution a fund +and assistance for the same. In the meantime the ambassadors were +planning a different scheme: while openly demanding the restoration of +property, they secretly concerted measures for recovering the throne, +and soliciting them, as if to promote that which appeared to be the +object in view, they sounded the minds of the young nobles; to those +by whom their proposals were favourably received they gave letters +from the Tarquins, and conferred with them about admitting the royal +family into the city secretly by night. + +The matter was first intrusted to the brothers Vitellii and Aquilii. A +sister of the Vitellii was married to Brutus the consul, and the issue +of that marriage was the grown-up sons, Titus and Tiberius; they also +were admitted by their uncles to share the plot; several young nobles +also were taken into their confidence, recollection of whose names has +been lost from lapse of time. In the meantime, as that opinion had +prevailed in the Senate, which was in favour of the property being +restored, the ambassadors made use of this as a pretext for lingering +in the city, and the time which they had obtained from the consuls +to procure conveyances, in which to remove the effects of the royal +family, they spent entirely in consultations with the conspirators, +and by persistent entreaties succeeded in getting letters given to +them for the Tarquins. Otherwise how could they feel sure that the +representations made by the ambassadors on matters of such importance +were not false? The letters, given as an intended pledge of their +sincerity, caused the plot to be discovered: for when, the day before +the ambassadors set out to the Tarquins, they had supped by chance at +the house of the Vitellii, and the conspirators had there discoursed +much together in private, as was natural, concerning their +revolutionary design, one of the slaves, who had already observed what +was on foot, overheard their conversation; he waited, however, for the +opportunity when the letters should be given to the ambassadors, the +detection of which would put the matter beyond a doubt. When he found +that they had been given, he laid the whole affair before the consuls. +The consuls left their home to seize the ambassadors and conspirators, +and quashed the whole affair without any disturbance, particular care +being taken of the letters, to prevent their being lost or stolen. +The traitors were immediately thrown into prison: some doubt was +entertained concerning the treatment of the ambassadors, and though +their conduct seemed to justify their being considered as enemies, the +law of nations nevertheless prevailed. + +The consideration of the restoration of the king's effects, for which +the senate had formerly voted, was laid anew before them. The fathers, +overcome by indignation, expressly forbade either their restoration or +confiscation. They were given to the people to be rifled, that, having +been polluted as it were by participation in the royal plunder, they +might lose forever all hopes of reconciliation with the Tarquins. A +field belonging to the latter, which lay between the city and the +Tiber, having been consecrated to Mars, was afterward called the +Campus Martius. It is said that there was by chance, at that time, a +crop of corn upon it ripe for harvest; this produce of the field, as +they thought it unlawful to use it, after it had been reaped, a large +number of men, sent into the field together, carried in baskets corn +and straw together, and threw it into the Tiber, which then was +flowing with shallow water, as is usual in the heat of summer; thus +the heaps of corn as they stuck in the shallows settled down, covered +over with mud; by means of these and other substances carried down to +the same spot, which the river brings along hap-hazard, an island[3] +was gradually formed. Afterward I believe that substructures were +added, and that aid was given by human handicraft, that the surface +might be well raised, as it is now and strong enough besides to bear +the weight even of temples and colonnades. After the tyrant's effects +had been plundered, the traitors were condemned and punishment +inflicted. This punishment was the more noticeable, because the +consulship imposed on the father the office of punishing his own +children, and to him, who should have been removed even as a +spectator, was assigned by fortune the duty of carrying out the +punishment. Young men of the highest rank stood bound to the stake; +but the consul's sons diverted the eyes of all the spectators from the +rest of the criminals, as from persons unknown; and the people felt +pity, not so much on account of their punishment, as of the crime by +which they had deserved it. That they, in that year above all others, +should have brought themselves to betray into the hands of one, who, +formerly a haughty tyrant, was now an exasperated exile, their country +recently delivered, their father its deliverer, the consulate which +took its rise from the Junian family, the fathers, the people, and +all the gods and citizens of Rome. The consuls advanced to take their +seats, and the lictors were despatched to inflict punishment. The +young men were stripped naked, beaten with rods, and their heads +struck off with the axe, while all the time the looks and countenance +of the father presented a touching spectacle, as his natural feelings +displayed themselves during the discharge of his duty in inflicting +public punishment. After the punishment of the guilty, that the +example might be a striking one in both aspects for the prevention of +crime, a sum of money was granted out of the treasury as a reward +to the informer: liberty also and the rights of citizenship were +conferred upon him. He is said to have been the first person made free +by the vindicta; some think that even the term vindicta is derived +from him, and that his name was Vindicius. [4] After him it was +observed as a rule, that all who were set free in this manner were +considered to be admitted to the rights of Roman citizens. + +On receiving the announcement of these events as they had occurred, +Tarquin, inflamed not only with grief at the annihilation of such +great hopes, but also with hatred and resentment, when he saw that the +way was blocked against stratagem, considering that war ought to +be openly resorted to, went round as a suppliant to the cities of +Etruria, imploring above all the Veientines and Tarquinians, not to +suffer him, a man sprung from themselves, of the same stock, to perish +before their eyes, an exile and in want, together with his grown-up +sons, after they had possessed a kingdom recently so flourishing. That +others had been invited to Rome from foreign lands to succeed to the +throne; that he, a king, while engaged in extending the Roman Empire +by arms, had been driven out by his nearest relatives by a villainous +conspiracy, that they had seized and divided his kingdom in portions +among themselves, because no one individual among them was deemed +sufficiently deserving of it: and had given up his effects to the +people to pillage, that no one might be without a share in the guilt. +That he was desirous of recovering his country and his kingdom, and +punishing his ungrateful subjects. Let them bring succour and aid him; +let them also avenge the wrongs done to them of old, the frequent +slaughter of their legions, the robbery of their land. These arguments +prevailed on the people of Veii, and with menaces they loudly +declared, each in their own name, that now at least, under the conduct +of a Roman general, their former disgrace would be wiped out, and what +they had lost in war would be recovered. His name and relationship +influenced the people of Tarquinii, for it seemed a high honour that +their countrymen should reign at Rome. Accordingly, the armies of +these two states followed Tarquin to aid in the recovery of his +kingdom, and to take vengeance upon the Romans in war. When they +entered Roman territory, the consuls marched to meet the enemy. +Valerius led the infantry in a square battalion: Brutus marched in +front with the cavalry to reconnoitre. In like manner the enemy's +horse formed the van of the army: Arruns Tarquinius, the king's son, +was in command: the king himself followed with the legions. Arruns, +when he knew at a distance by the lictors that it was a consul, and on +drawing nearer more surely discovered that it was Brutus by his face, +inflamed with rage, cried out: "Yonder is the man who has driven us +into exile from our native country! See how he rides in state adorned +with the insignia of our rank! Now assist me, ye gods, the avengers of +kings." He put spurs to his horse and charged furiously against the +consul. Brutus perceived that he was being attacked, and, as it was +honourable in those days for the generals to personally engage in +battle, he accordingly eagerly offered himself for combat. They +charged with such furious animosity, neither of them heedful of +protecting his own person, provided he could wound his opponent, that +each, pierced through the buckler by his adversary's blow, fell from +his horse in the throes of death, still transfixed by the two spears. +The engagement between the rest of the horse began at the same time, +and soon after the foot came up. There they fought with varying +success, and as it were with equal advantage. The right wings of both +armies were victorious, the left worsted. The Veientines, accustomed +to defeat at the hands of the Roman soldiers, were routed and put to +flight. The Tarquinians, who were a new foe, not only stood their +ground, but on their side even forced the Romans to give way. + +After the engagement had thus been fought, so great a terror seized +Tarquinius and the Etruscans, that both armies, the Veientine and +Tarquinian, abandoning the attempt as a fruitless one, departed by +night to their respective homes. Strange incidents are also reported +in the account of this battle--that in the stillness of the next night +a loud voice was heard from the Arsian wood;[5] that it was believed +to be the voice of Silvanus. That the following words were uttered: +that more of the Tuscans by one man had fallen in the fight: that the +Romans were victorious in the war. Under these circumstances, the +Romans departed thence as conquerors, the Etruscans as practically +conquered. For as soon as it was light, and not one of the enemy was +to be seen anywhere, Publius Valerius, the consul, collected the +spoils, and returned thence in triumph to Rome. He celebrated the +funeral of his colleague with all the magnificence possible at the +time. But a far greater honour to his death was the public sorrow, +especially remarkable in this particular, that the matrons mourned him +for a year as a parent, because he had shown himself so vigorous an +avenger of violated chastity. Afterward, the consul who survived--so +changeable are the minds of the people--after enjoying great +popularity, encountered not only jealousy, but suspicion, that +originated with a monstrous charge. Report represented that he was +aspiring to kingly power, because he had not substituted a colleague +in the room of Brutus, and was building on the top of Mount Velia:[6] +that an impregnable stronghold was being erected there in an elevated +and well-fortified position. These reports, widely circulated and +believed, disquieted the consul's mind at the unworthiness of the +charge; and, having summoned the people to an assembly, he mounted the +platform, after lowering the fasces. It was a pleasing sight to the +multitude that the insignia of authority were lowered before them, and +that acknowledgment was made, that the dignity and power of the people +were greater than that of the consul. Then, after they had been +bidden to listen, the consul highly extolled the good fortune of his +colleague, in that, after having delivered his country, he had died +while still invested with the highest rank, fighting in defence of the +commonwealth, when his glory was at its height, and had not yet turned +to jealousy. He himself (said he) had outlived his glory, and only +survived to incur accusation and odium: that, from being the liberator +of his country, he had fallen back to the level of the Aquilii and +Vitellii. "Will no merit then," said he, "ever be so approved in your +eyes as to be exempt from the attacks of suspicion? Was I to apprehend +that I, that bitterest enemy of kings, should myself have to submit +to the charge of desiring kingly power? Was I to believe that, even +though I should dwell in the citadel and the Capitol itself, I should +be dreaded by my fellow-citizens? Does my character among you depend +on so mere a trifle? Does your confidence in me rest on such slight +foundations, that it matters more where I am than what I am? The +house of Publius Valerius shall not stand in the way of your liberty, +Quirites; the Velian Mount shall be secure to you. I will not only +bring down my house into the plain, but will build it beneath the +hill, that you may dwell above me, the suspected citizen. Let those +build on the Velian Mount, to whom liberty can be more safely +intrusted than to Publius Valerius." Immediately all the materials +were brought down to the foot of the Velian Mount, and the house was +built at the foot of the hill, where the Temple of Vica Pota[7] now +stands. + +After this laws were proposed by the consul, such as not only freed +him from all suspicion of aiming at regal power, but had so contrary +a tendency, that they even made him popular. At this time he was +surnamed Publicola. Above all, the laws regarding an appeal to the +people against the magistrates, and declaring accursed the life and +property of any one who should have formed the design of seizing regal +authority,[8] were welcome to the people. Having passed these laws +while sole consul, so that the merit of them might be exclusively his +own, he then held an assembly for the election of a new colleague. +Spurius Lucretius was elected consul, who, owing to his great age, and +his strength being inadequate to discharge the consular duties, died +within a few days. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was chosen in the room of +Lucretius. In some ancient authorities I find no mention of Lucretius +as consul; they place Horatius immediately after Brutus. My own belief +is that, because no important event signalized his consulate, all +record of it has been lost. The Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol had +not yet been dedicated; the conuls Valerius and Horatius cast lots +which should dedicate it. The duty fell by lot to Horatius. Publicola +departed to conduct the war against the Veientines. The friends of +Valerius were more annoyed than the circumstances demanded that the +dedication of so celebrated a temple was given to Horatius. Having +endeavoured by every means to prevent it, when all other attempts had +been tried and failed, at the moment when the consul was holding the +door-post during his offering of prayer to the gods, they suddenly +announced to him the startling intelligence that his son was dead, and +that, while his family was polluted by death, he could not dedicate +the temple. Whether he did not believe that it was true, or whether +he possessed such great strength of mind, is neither handed down for +certain, nor is it easy to decide. On receiving the news, holding the +door-post, without turning off his attention in any other way from the +business he was engaged completed the form of prayer, and dedicated +the temple. Such were the transactions at home and abroad during +the first year after the expulsion of the kings. After this Publius +Valerius, for the second time, and Titus Lucretius were elected +consuls. + +By this time the Tarquins had fled to Lars Porsina, King of Clusium. +There, mingling advice with entreaties, they now besought him not to +suffer them, who were descended from the Etruscans, and of the same +stock and name, to live in exile and poverty; now advised him also not +to let the rising practice of expelling kings pass unpunished. Liberty +in itself had charms enough; and, unless kings defended their thrones +with as much vigour as the people strove for liberty, the highest was +put on a level with the lowest; there would be nothing exalted in +states, nothing to be distinguished above the rest; that the end of +regal government, the most beautiful institution both among gods and +men, was close at hand. Porsina, thinking it a great honour to the +Tuscans both that there should be a king at Rome, and that one +belonging to the Etruscan nation, marched toward Rome with a hostile +army. Never before on any other occasion did such terror seize the +senate; so powerful was the state of Clusium[9] at that time, and so +great the renown of Porsina. Nor did they dread their enemies only, +but even their own citizens, lest the common people of Rome, smitten +with fear, should, by receiving the Tarquins into the city, accept +peace even at the price of slavery. Many concessions were therefore +granted to the people by the senate during that period by way of +conciliating them. Their attention, in the first place, was directed +to the markets, and persons were sent, some to the country of the +Volscians, others to Cumae, to buy up corn. The privilege of selling +salt also was withdrawn from private individuals because it was sold +at an exorbitant price, while all the expense fell upon the state:[10] +and the people were freed from duties and taxes, inasmuch as the rich, +since they were in a position to bear the burden, should contribute +them; the poor, they said, paid taxes enough if they brought up their +children. This indulgence on the part of the fathers accordingly kept +the state so united during their subsequent adversity in time of siege +and famine, that the lowest as much as the highest abhorred the name +of king; nor did any single individual afterward gain such popularity +by intriguing practices, as the whole body of the senate at that time +by their excellent government. + +On the approach of the enemy, they all withdrew for protection from +the country into the city, and protected the city itself with military +garrisons. Some parts seemed secured by the walls, others by the Tiber +between. The Sublician [11] bridge well-nigh afforded a passage to +the enemy, had it not been for one man, Horatius Cocles: in him the +protecting spirit of Rome on that day found a defence. He happened to +be posted on guard at the bridge: and, when he saw the Janiculum taken +by a sudden assault, and the enemy pouring down from thence at full +speed, and his own party, in confusion, abandoning their arms and +ranks, seizing hold of them one by one, standing in their way, and +appealing to the faith of gods and men, he declared, that their flight +would avail them nothing if they deserted their post; if they crossed +the bridge and left it behind them, there would soon be greater +numbers of the enemy in the Palatium and Capitol than in the +Janiculum; therefore he advised and charged them to break down the +bridge, by sword, by fire, or by any violent means whatsoever; that +he himself would receive the attack of the enemy as far as resistance +could be offered by the person of one man. He then strode to the front +entrance of the bridge, and being easily distinguished among those +whose backs were seen as they gave way before the battle, he struck +the enemy with amazement by his surprising boldness as he faced round +in arms to engage the foe hand to hand. Two, however, a sense of shame +kept back with him, Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, both men of +high birth, and renowned for their gallant exploits. With them he for +a short time stood the first storm of danger, and the severest brunt +of the battle. Afterward, as those who were cutting down the bridge +called upon them to retire, and only a small portion of it was left, +he obliged them also to withdraw to a place of safety. Then, casting +his stern eyes threateningly upon all the nobles of the Etruscans, he +now challenged them singly, now reproached them all as the slaves of +haughty tyrants, who, unmindful of their own freedom, came to attack +that of others. For a considerable time they hesitated, looking round +one upon another, waiting to begin the fight. A feeling of shame then +stirred the army, and raising a shout, they hurled their weapons from +all sides on their single adversary; and when they had all stuck in +the shield he held before him, and he with no less obstinacy kept +possession of the bridge with firm step, they now began to strive to +thrust him down from it by their united attack, when the crash of the +falling bridge, and at the same time the shout raised by the Romans +for joy at having completed their task, checked their assault with +sudden consternation. Then Cocles said, "Father Tiberinus, holy one, I +pray thee, receive these arms, and this thy soldier, in thy favouring +stream." So, in full armour, just as he was, he leapedinto the Tiber, +and, amid showers of darts that fell upon him, swam across unharmed to +his comrades, having dared a deed which is likely to obtain more fame +than belief with posterity.[12] The state showed itself grateful +toward such distinguished valour; a statue of him was erected in the +comitium, and as much land was given to him as he could draw a furrow +round in one day with a plough. The zeal of private individuals also +was conspicuous in the midst of public honours. For, notwithstanding +the great scarcity, each person contributed something to him in +proportion to his private means, depriving himself of his own means of +support. + +Porsina, repulsed in his first attempt, having changed his plans to a +siege of the city, and a blockade, and pitched his camp in the plain +and on the bank of the Tiber, placed a garrison in the Janiculum. +Then, sending for boats from all parts, both to guard the river, so as +to prevent any provisions being conveyed up stream to Rome, and also +that his soldiers might get across to plunder in different places as +opportunity offered, in a short time he so harassed all the country +round Rome, that not only was everything else conveyed out of the +country, but even the cattle were driven into the city, and nobody +ventured to drive them without the gates. This liberty of action was +granted to the Etruscans, not more from fear than from design: for the +consul Valerius, eager for an opportunity of falling unawares upon a +number of them together in loose order, careless of taking vengeance +in trifling matters, reserved himself as a serious avenger for more +important occasions. Accordingly, in order to draw out the pillagers, +he ordered a large body of his men to drive out their cattle the next +day by the Esquiline gate, which was farthest from the enemy, thinking +that they would get intelligence of it, because during the blockade +and scarcity of provisions some of the slaves would turn traitors and +desert. And in fact they did learn by the information of a deserter, +and parties far more numerous than usual crossed the river in the hope +of seizing all the booty at once. Then Publius Valerius commanded +Titus Herminius, with a small force, to lie in ambush at the second +milestone on the road to Gabii, and Spurius Larcius, with a party of +light-armed youths, to post himself at the Colline gate while the +enemy was passing by, and then to throw himself in their way to cut +off their return to the river. The other consul, Titus Lucretius, +marched out of the Naevian gate with some companies of soldiers, while +Valerius himself led some chosen cohorts down from the Colan Mount. +These were the first who were seen by the enemy. Herminius, when he +perceived the alarm, rushed from his ambush and fell upon the rear of +the Etruscans, who had turned against Valerius. The shout was returned +on the right and left, from the Colline gate on the one side and +the Naevian on the other. Thus the plunderers were put to the sword +between both, being neither their match in strength for fighting, and +all the ways being blocked up to prevent escape: this put an end to +the disorderly raids of the Etruscans. + +The blockade, however, was carried on none the less, and corn was both +scarce and very dear. Porsina still entertained the hope that, by +continuing the blockade, he would be able to reduce the city, when +Gaius Mucius, a young noble, who considered it a disgrace that the +Roman people, who, even when in a state of slavery, while under the +kings, had never been confined within their walls during any war, or +blockaded by any enemy, should now, when a free people, be blockaded +by these very Etruscans whose armies they had often routed--and +thinking that such disgrace ought to be avenged by some great and +daring deed, at first designed on his own responsibility to make his +way into the enemy's camp. Then, being afraid that, if he went without +the permission of the consuls, and unknown to all, he might perhaps be +seized by the Roman guards and brought back as a deserter, since the +circumstances of the city at the time rendered such a charge credible, +he approached the senate. "Fathers," said he, "I desire to cross +the Tiber, and enter the enemy's camp, if I may be able, not as +a plunderer, nor as an avenger to exact retribution for their +devastations: a greater deed is in my mind, if the gods assist." The +senate approved. He set out with a dagger concealed under his garment. +When he reached the camp, he stationed himself where the crowd was +thickest, near the king's tribunal. There, as the soldiers happened +to be receiving their pay, and the king's secretary, sitting by him, +similarly attired, was busily engaged, and generally addressed by +the soldiers, he killed the secretary, against whom chance blindly +directed the blow, instead of the king, being afraid to ask which of +the two was Porsina, lest, by displaying his ignorance of the king, +he should disclose who he himself was. As he was moving off in the +direction where with his bloody dagger he had made a way for himself +through the dismayed multitude, the crowd ran up on hearing the noise, +and he was immediately seized and brought back by the king's guards: +being set before the king's tribunal, even then, amid the perilous +fortune that threatened him, more capable of inspiring dread than +of feeling it, "I am," said he, "a Roman citizen; men call me Gaius +Mucius; an enemy, I wished to slay an enemy, nor have I less courage +to suffer death than I had to inflict it. Both to do and to suffer +bravely is a Roman's part. Nor have I alone harboured such feelings +toward you; there follows after me a long succession of aspirants to +the same honour. Therefore, if you choose, prepare yourself for this +peril, to be in danger of your life from hour to hour: to find the +sword and the enemy at the very entrance of your tent: such is the war +we, the youth of Rome, declare against you; dread not an army in the +field, nor a battle; you will have to contend alone and with each of +us one by one." When the king, furious with rage, and at the same time +terrified at the danger, threateningly commanded fires to be kindled +about him, if he did not speedily disclose the plots, at which in his +threats he had darkly hinted, Mucius said, "See here, that you may +understand of how little account the body is to those who have great +glory in view"; and immediately thrust his right hand into the fire +that was lighted for sacrifice. When he allowed it to burn as if +his spirit were quite insensible to any feeling of pain, the king, +well-nigh astounded at this surprising sight, leaped from his seat and +commanded the young man to be removed from the altar. "Depart," said +he, "thou who hast acted more like an enemy toward thyself than toward +me. I would bid thee go on and prosper in thy valour, if that valour +were on the side of my country. I now dismiss thee unharmed and +unhurt, exempt from the right of war." Then Mucius, as if in return +for the kindness, said: "Since bravery is held in honour with you, +that you may obtain from me by your kindness that which you could not +obtain by threats, know that we are three hundred, the chief of the +Roman youth, who have conspired to attack you in this manner. The +lot fell upon me first. The rest will be with you each in his turn, +according to the fortune that shall befall me who drew the first lot, +until fortune on some favourable opportunity shall have delivered you +into their hands." + +Mucius, to whom the surname of Scaevola[13] was afterward given from +the loss of his right hand, was let go and ambassadors from Porsina +followed him to Rome. The danger of the first attempt, in which +nothing had protected him but the mistake of his secret assailant, +and the thought of the risk of life he would have to run so often in +proportion to the number of surviving conspirators that remained, made +so strong an impression upon him that of his own accord he offered +terms of peace to the Romans. In these terms the restoration of the +Tarquins to the throne was proposed and discussed without success, +rather because he felt he could not refuse that to the Tarquins, than +from ignorance that it would be refused him by the Romans. In regard +to the restoration of territory to the Veientines his request was +granted, and the obligation of giving hostages, if they wished the +garrison to be withdrawn from the Janiculum, was extorted from the +Romans. Peace being concluded on these terms, Porsina led his troops +down from the Janiculum, and withdrew from Roman territory. The +fathers bestowed upon Gaius Mucius, in reward for his valour, some +land on the other side of the Tiber, which was afterward called the +Mucian meadows. By this honour paid to valour women also were roused +to deeds that brought glory to the state. Among others, a young woman +named Claelia, one of the hostages, escaped her keepers, and, as the +camp of the Etruscans had been pitched not far from the bank of the +Tiber, swam over the river, amid the darts of the enemy, at the head +of a band of maidens, and brought them all back in safety to their +relations at Rome. When news of this was brought to the king, at +first, furious with rage, he sent deputies to Rome to demand the +hostage Claelia, saying that he did not set great store by the rest: +afterward, his feelings being changed to admiration, he said that +this deed surpassed those of men like Cocles and Mucius, and further +declared that, as he would consider the treaty broken if the hostage +were not delivered up, so, if she were given up, he would send her +back unharmed and unhurt to her friends. Both sides kept faith: the +Romans restored their pledge of peace according to treaty: and with +the Etruscan king valour found not only security, but also honour; +and, after praising the maiden, he promised to give her, as a present, +half the hostages, allowing her to choose whom she pleased. When they +had all been led forth, she is said to have picked out those below the +age of puberty, a choice which both reflected honour upon her maiden +delicacy, and was one likely to be approved of by consent of the +hostages themselves--that those who were of such an age as was most +exposed to injury should above all others be delivered from the enemy. +Peace being renewed, the Romans rewarded this instance of bravery +uncommon in a woman with an uncommon kind of honour: an equestrian +statue, which, representing a maiden sitting on horseback, was erected +at the top of the Via Sacra.[14] + +The custom handed down from the ancients, and which has continued down +to our times among other usages at public sales, that of selling +the goods of King Porsina, is inconsistent with this account of so +peaceful a departure of the Etruscan king from the city. The origin +of this custom must either have arisen during the war, and not been +abandoned in time of peace, or it must have grown from a milder +beginning than the form of expression seems, on the face of it, to +indicate, of selling the goods as if taken from an enemy. Of the +accounts handed down, the most probable is, that Porsina, when +retiring from the Janiculum, made a present to the Romans of his camp +rich with stores of provisions conveyed from the neighbouring fertile +fields of Etruria, as the city was then exhausted owing to the long +siege: that then, to prevent its contents being plundered as if it +belonged to an enemy when the people were admitted, they were sold, +and called the goods of Porsina, the expression rather conveying the +idea of a thankworthy gift than an auction of the king's property, +seeing that this never even came into the power of the Roman people. +Porsina, having abandoned the war against the Romans, that his army +might not seem to have been led into those parts to no purpose, +sent his son Arruns with part of his forces to besiege Aricia. The +unexpected occurrence at first terrified the Aricians: afterward aid, +which had been sent for, both from the people of Latium and from +Cumæ,[15] inspired such hope that they ventured to try the issue of a +pitched battle. At the beginning of the battle the Etruscans attacked +so furiously that they routed the Aricians at the first onset. But the +Cuman cohorts, employing stratagem against force, moved off a little +to one side, and when the enemy were carried beyond them in loose +array, they wheeled round and attacked them in the rear. By this means +the Etruscans, when on the point of victory, were hemmed in and cut to +pieces. A very small number of them, having lost their general, and +having no nearer refuge, came to Rome without their arms, in the +plight and guise of suppliants. There they were kindly received and +distributed in different lodgings. When their wounds had been attended +to, some with. Affection for their hosts and for the city caused many +others to remain at Rome: a quarter was assigned them to dwell in, +which has ever since been called the Tuscan Street.[16] + +Spurius Lucretius and Publius Valerius Publicola were next elected +consuls. In that year ambassadors came from Porsina for the last time, +to discuss the restoration of Tarquin to the throne. And when answer +had been given them, that the senate would send deputies to the king, +the most distinguished of that order were forthwith despatched to +explain that it was not because the answer could not have been given +in a few words--that the royal family would not be received--that +select members of the senate had been deputed to him, rather than an +answer given to his ambassadors at Rome, but in order that all mention +of the matter might be put an end to forever, and that their minds +might not be disturbed amid so many mutual acts of kindness on both +sides, by his asking what was adverse to the liberty of the Roman +people, and by their refusing him (unless they were willing to promote +their own destruction) whom they would willingly refuse nothing. That +the Roman people were not now under a kingly government, but in the +enjoyment of freedom, and were accordingly resolved to open their +gates to enemies sooner than to kings. That it was the wish of all, +that the end of their city's freedom might also be the end of the city +itself. Wherefore, if he wished Rome to be safe, they entreated him +to suffer it to be free. The king, overcome by feelings of respect, +replied: "Since that is your firm and fixed resolve, I will neither +annoy you by importunities, by urging the same request too often to no +purpose, nor will I disappoint the Tarquins by holding out hopes of +aid, which it is not in my power to give them; whether they have need +of peace, or of war, let them go hence and seek another place of +exile, that nothing may hinder the peace between us." To kindly words +he added deeds still more friendly: he delivered up the remainder of +the hostages, and restored to them the land of the Veientines, which +had been taken from them by the treaty concluded at the Janiculum. +Tarquin, now that all hope of return was cut off, went into exile to +Tusculum [17] to his son-in-law Octavius Mamilius. Thus a lasting +peace was concluded between Porsina and the Romans. + +The next consuls were Marcus Valerius and Publius Postumius. During +that year war was carried on successfully against the Sabines; the +consuls received the honour of a triumph. Upon this the Sabines made +preparations for war on a larger scale. To make head against them, and +to prevent any sudden danger arising from Tusculum, from which quarter +war, though not openly declared, was suspected, Publius Valerius was +created consul a fourth time, and Titus Lucretius a second time. A +disturbance that arose among the Sabines between the advocates of +war and of peace transferred considerable strength from them to the +Romans. For Attius Clausus, who was afterward called Appius Claudius +at Rome, being himself an advocate of peace, when hard pressed by +the agitators for war, and being no match for the party, fled from +Regillum to Rome, accompanied by a great number of dependents. The +rights of citizenship and land on the other side of the Anio were +bestowed on them. This settlement was called the old Claudian tribe, +and was subsequently increased by the addition of new tribesmen who +kept arriving from that district. Appius, being chosen into the +senate, was soon after advanced to the rank of the highest in that +order. The consuls entered the territories of the Sabines with a +hostile army, and when, both by laying waste their country, and +afterward by defeating them in battle, they had so weakened the power +of the enemy that for a long time there was no reason to dread the +renewal of the war in that quarter, they returned to Rome in triumph. +The following year, Agrippa Menenius and Publius Postumius being +consuls, Publius Valerius, by universal consent the ablest man in +Rome, in the arts both of peace and war, died covered with glory, but +in such straitened private circumstances that there was not enough +to defray the expenses of a public funeral: one was given him at +the public charge. The matrons mourned for him as they had done for +Brutus. The same year two Latin colonies, Pometia and Cora,[18] +revolted to the Auruncans.[19] War was commenced against the +Auruncans, and after a large army, which boldly met the consuls +as they were entering their frontiers, had been defeated, all the +operations of the Auruncan war were concentrated at Pometia. Nor, +after the battle was over, did they refrain from slaughter any more +than when it was going on: the number of the slain was considerably +greater than that of the prisoners, and the latter they put to death +indiscriminately. Nor did the wrath of war spare even the hostages, +three hundred in number, whom they had received. This year also the +consuls celebrated a triumph at Rome. + +The succeeding consuls, Opiter Verginius and Spurius Cassius, first +endeavoured to take Pometia by storm, and afterward by means of +mantlets [20] and other works. But the Auruncans, stirred up against +them more by an irreconcilable hatred than induced by any hopes of +success, or by a favourable opportunity, having sallied forth, more of +them armed with lighted torches than swords, filled all places with +fire and slaughter. Having fired the mantlets, slain and wounded many +of the enemy, they almost succeeded in slaying one of the consuls, who +had been thrown from his horse and severely wounded: which of them it +was, authorities do not mention. Upon this the Romans returned to the +city unsuccessful: the consul was taken back with many more wounded, +with doubtful hope of his recovery. After a short interval, sufficient +for attending to their wounds and recruiting their army, they attacked +Pometia with greater fury and increased strength. When, after the +mantlets and the other military works had been repaired, the soldiers +were on the point of mounting the walls, the town surrendered. Yet, +though the town had surrendered, the Auruncans were treated with no +less cruelty than if it had been taken by assault: the chief men were +beheaded: the rest, who were colonists, were sold by auction, the town +was razed, and the land sold. The consuls obtained a triumph more from +having violently gratified their[21] resentment than in consequence of +the importance of the war thus concluded. + +In the following year Postumus Cominius and Titus Larcius were +consuls. In that year, during the celebration of the games at Rome, as +some courtesans were being carried off by some of the Sabine youth +in wanton frolic, a crowd assembled, a quarrel ensued, and almost +a battle: and in consequence of this trifling occurrence the whole +affair seemed to point to a renewal of hostilities, which inspired +even more apprehension than a Latin war. Their fears were further +increased, because it was known for certain that thirty different +states had already entered into a confederacy against them, at the +instigation of Octavius Mamilius. While the state was troubled during +the expectation of such important events, the idea of nominating a +dictator was mentioned for the first time. + +But in what year, or who the consuls were in whom confidence was not +reposed, because they belonged to the party of the Tarquins--for that +also is reported--or who was elected dictator for the first time, is +not satisfactorily established. Among the oldest authorities, however, +I find that Titus Larcius was appointed the first dictator, and +Spurius Cassius master of the horse. They chose men of consular +dignity: so the law that was passed for the election of a dictator +ordained. For this reason, I am more inclined to believe that Larcius, +who was of consular rank, was attached to the consuls as their +director and superior, rather than Manius Valerius, the son of Marcus +and grandson of Volesus, who had not vet been consul. Moreover, had +they intended a dictator to be chosen from that family under any +circumstances, they would much rather have chosen his father, Marcus +Valerius, a man of consular rank, and of approved merit. On the first +creation of the dictator at Rome, when they saw the axes carried +before him, great awe came upon the people,[22] so that they became +more attentive to obey orders. For neither, as was the case under the +consuls, who possessed equal power, could the assistance of one of +them be invoked, nor was there any appeal, nor any chance of redress +but in attentive submission. The creation of a dictator at Rome also +terrified the Sabines, and the more so because they thought he was +created on their account. Accordingly, they sent ambassadors to treat +concerning peace. To these, when they earnestly entreated the dictator +and senate to pardon a youthful offence, the answer was given, that +the young men might be forgiven, but not the old, seeing that they +were continually stirring up one war after another. Nevertheless they +continued to treat about peace, which would have been granted, if the +Sabines had brought themselves to make good the expenses incurred +during the war, as was demanded. War was proclaimed; a truce, however, +with the tacit consent of both parties, preserved peace throughout the +year. + +Servius Sulpicius and Manius Tullius were consuls the next year: +nothing worth mentioning happened. Titus Aebutius and Gaius Vetusius +succeeded. In their consulship Fideae was besieged, Crustumeria taken, +and Præneste[23] revolted from the Latins to the Romans. Nor was the +Latin war, which had now been fomenting for several years, any longer +deferred. Aulus Postumius the dictator, and Titus Aebutius his master +of the horse, setting out with a numerous army of horse and foot, +met the enemy's forces at the Lake Regillus,[24] in the territory of +Tusculum, and, because it was rumoured that the Tarquins were in the +army of the Latins, their rage could not be restrained, so that +they immediately came to an engagement. Accordingly, the battle was +considerably more severe and fierce than others. For the generals +were present not only to direct matters by their instructions, but, +exposing their own persons, they met in combat. And there was hardly +one of the principal officers of either army who came off unwounded, +except the Roman dictator. As Postumius was encouraging his men in the +first line, and drawing them up in order, Tarquinius Superbus, though +now advanced in years and enfeebled, urged on his horse to attack him: +and, being wounded in the side, he was carried off by a party of his +men to a place of safety. In like manner, on the other wing, Aebutius, +master of the horse, had charged Octavius Mamilius; nor was his +approach unobserved by the Etruscan general, who in like manner +spurred his horse against him. And such was their impetuosity as they +advanced with lances couched, that Aebutius was pierced through the +arm and Mamilius run through the breast. The Latins received the +latter into their second line; Aebutius, as he was unable to wield +his lance with his wounded arm, retired from the battle. The Latin +general, no way discouraged by his wound, stirred up the fight: and, +because he saw that his own men were disheartened, sent for a company +of Roman exiles, commanded by the son of Lucius Tarquinius. This body, +inasmuch as they fought with greater fury, owing to the loss of their +country, and the seizure of their estates, for a while revived the +battle. + +When the Romans were now beginning to give ground in that quarter, +Marcus Valerius, brother of Publicola, having observed young Tarquin +boldly parading himself at the head of his exiles, fired besides with +the renown of his house, that the family, which had gained glory by +having expelled the kings, might also have the glory of destroying +them, put spurs to his horse, and with his javelin couched made toward +Tarquin. Tarquin retreated before his infuriated foe to a battalion of +his own men. As Valerius rode rashly into the line of the exiles, one +of them attacked him and ran him sideways through the body, and as the +horse was in no way impeded by the wound of his rider, the Roman sank +to the ground expiring, with his arms falling over his body. Postumius +the dictator, seeing the fall of so distinguished a man, and that the +exiles were advancing boldly at a run, and his own men disheartened +and giving ground, gave the signal to his own cohort, a chosen body of +men which he kept for the defence of his person, to treat every Roman +soldier, whom they saw fleeing from the battle, as an enemy. Upon this +the Romans, in fear of the danger on both sides, turned from flight +and attacked the enemy, and the battle was restored. The dictator's +cohort then for the first time engaged in the fight, and with persons +and courage unimpaired, fell on the wearied exiles, and cut them +to pieces. There another engagement took place between the leading +officers. The Latin general, on seeing the cohort of the exiles +almost surrounded by the Roman dictator, hurried up some companies of +reserves to the front. Titus Herminius, a lieutenant-general, seeing +them advancing in a body, and recognising Mamilius, distinguished +among them by his armour and dress, encountered the leader of the +enemy with violence so much greater than the master of the horse had +shown a little before, that at one thrust he ran him through the +side and slew him. While stripping the body of his enemy, he himself +received a wound with a javelin, and, though brought back to the camp +victorious, died while it was being dressed. Then the dictator hurried +up to the cavalry, entreating them, as the infantry were tired out, to +dismount and take up the fight. They obeyed his orders, dismounted, +flew to the front, and, taking the place of the first line, covered +themselves with their targets. The infantry immediately recovered +their courage when they saw the young nobles sustaining a share of the +danger with them, the mode of fighting being now the same for +all. Then at length the Latins were beaten back, and their line, +disheartened, gave way. The horses were then brought up to the +cavalry, that they might pursue the enemy: the infantry likewise +followed. Thereupon the dictator, disregarding nothing that held out +hope of divine or human aid, is said to have vowed a temple to Castor, +and to have promised rewards to the first and second of the soldiers +who should enter the enemy's camp. Such was the ardour of the Romans +that they took the camp with the same impetuosity wherewith they had +routed the enemy in the field. Such was the engagement at the Lake +Regillus. + +The dictator and master of the horse returned to the city in triumph. +For the next three years there was neither settled peace nor open war. +The consuls were Q. Cloelius and T. Larcius. They were succeeded by +A. Sempronius and M. Minucius. During their consulship a temple was +dedicated to Saturn and the festival of the Saturnalia instituted. +The next consuls were A. Postumius and T. Verginius. I find in some +authors this year given as the date of the battle at Lake Regillus, +and that A. Postumius laid down his consulship because the fidelity +of his colleague was suspected, on which a Dictator was appointed. So +many errors as to dates occur, owing to the order in which the consuls +succeeded being variously given, that the remoteness in time of both +the events and the authorities make it impossible to determine either +which consuls succeeded which, or in what year any particular event +occurred. Ap. Claudius and P. Servilius were the next consuls. This +year is memorable for the news of Tarquin's death. His death took +place at Cuma, whither he had retired, to seek the protection of the +tyrant Aristodemus after the power of the Latins was broken. The news +was received with delight by both senate and plebs. But the elation of +the patricians was carried to excess. Up to that time they had treated +the commons with the utmost deference, now their leaders began to +practice injustice upon them. The same year a fresh batch of colonists +was sent to complete the number at Signia, a colony founded by King +Tarquin. The number of tribes at Rome was increased to twenty-one. The +temple of Mercury was dedicated on May 15. + +The relations with the Volscians during the Latin war were neither +friendly nor openly hostile. The Volscians had collected a force which +they were intending to send to the aid of the Latins had not the +Dictator forestalled them by the rapidity of his movements, a rapidity +due to his anxiety to avoid a battle with the combined armies. To +punish them the consuls led the legions into the Volscian country. +This unexpected movement paralysed the Volscians, who were not +expecting retribution for what had been only an intention. Unable +to offer resistance, they gave as hostages three hundred children +belonging to their nobility, drawn from Cora and Pometia. The legions, +accordingly, were marched back without fighting. Relieved from the +immediate danger, the Volscians soon fell back on their old policy, +and after forming an armed alliance with the Hernicans, made secret +preparations for war. They also despatched envoys through the length +and breadth of Latium to induce that nation to join them. But after +their defeat at Lake Regillus the Latins were so incensed against +every one who advocated a resumption of hostilities that they did not +even spare the Volscian envoys, who were arrested and conducted to +Rome. There they were handed over to the consuls and evidence was +produced showing that the Volscians and Hernicans were preparing for +war with Rome. When the matter was brought before the senate, they +were so gratified by the action of the Latins that they sent back six +thousand prisoners who had been sold into slavery, and also referred +to the new magistrates the question of a treaty which they had +hitherto persistently refused to consider. The Latins congratulated +themselves upon the course they had adopted, and the advocates of +peace were in high honour. They sent a golden crown as a gift to +the Capitoline Jupiter. The deputation who brought the gift were +accompanied by a large number of the released prisoners, who visited +the houses where they had worked as slaves to thank their former +masters for the kindness and consideration shown them in their +misfortunes, and to form ties of hospitality with them. At no +previous period had the Latin nation been on more friendly terms both +politically and personally with the Roman government. + +But a war with the Volscians was imminent, and the State was torn with +internal dissensions; the patricians and the plebeians were bitterly +hostile to one another, owing mainly to the desperate condition of the +debtors. They loudly complained that whilst fighting in the field +for liberty and empire they were oppressed and enslaved by their +fellow-citizens at home; their freedom was more secure in war than +in peace, safer amongst the enemy than amongst their own people. The +discontent, which was becoming of itself continually more embittered, +was still further aggravated by the striking sufferings of an +individual. A man advanced in years rushed into the forum with the +tokens of his utter misery upon him. His clothes were covered with +filth, his personal appearance still more pitiable, pale, and +emaciated. In addition, a long beard and hair gave a wild look to his +countenance. Notwithstanding his wretched appearance however, he +was recognised, and people said that he had been a centurion, and, +compassionating him, recounted other distinctions that he had gained +in war: he himself exhibited scars on his breast in front, which bore +witness to honourable battles in several places. When they repeatedly +inquired the reason of his plight, and wretched appearance, a crowd +having now gathered round him almost like a regular assembly, he said, +that, while serving in the Sabine war, because he had not only been +deprived of the produce of his land in consequence of the depredations +of the enemy, but his residence had also been burned down, all his +effects pillaged, his cattle driven off, and a tax imposed on him at a +time when it pressed most hardly upon him, he had got into debt: that +this debt, increased by exorbitant interest, had stripped him first of +his father's and grandfather's farm, then of all his other property; +lastly that, like a wasting sickness, it had reached his person: that +he had been dragged by his creditor, not into servitude, but into a +house of correction and a place of torture. He then showed his back +disfigured with the marks of recent scourging. At this sight and these +words a great uproar arose. The tumult now no longer confined itself +to the forum, but spread everywhere through the entire city. The +nexi,[25] both those who were imprisoned, and those who were now at +liberty, hurried into the streets from all quarters and implored the +protection of the Quirites. Nowhere was there lack of volunteers to +join the disturbance. They ran in crowds through all the streets, from +all points, to the forum with loud shouts. Such of the senators as +happened to be in the forum fell in with this mob at great peril to +themselves; and it might not have refrained from actual violence +had not the consuls, Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius, hastily +interfered to quell the disturbance. The multitude, however, turning +toward them, and showing their chains and other marks of wretchedness, +said that they deserved all this,[26] mentioning, each of them, in +reproachful terms, the military services performed by himself, by +one in one place, by another in another. They called upon them with +menaces, rather than entreaties, to assemble the senate, and stood +round the senate-house in a body, determined themselves to be +witnesses and directors of the public resolves. Very few of the +senators, whom chance had thrown in the way, were got together by the +consuls; fear kept the rest away not only from the senate-house, but +even from the forum, and no business could be transacted owing to +their small attendance. Then indeed the people began to think they +were being tricked, and put off: and that such of the senators as +absented themselves did so not through accident or fear, but with the +express purpose of obstructing business: that the consuls themselves +were shuffling, that their miseries were without doubt held up to +ridicule. Matters had now almost come to such a pass that not even +the majesty of the consuls could restrain the violence of the people. +Wherefore, uncertain whether they would incur greater danger by +staying at home, or venturing abroad, they at length came into the +senate; but, though the house was now by this time full, not only were +the senators unable to agree, but even the consuls themselves. Appius, +a man of violent temperament, thought the matter ought to be settled +by the authority of the consuls, and that, if one or two were seized, +the rest would keep quiet. Servilius, more inclined to moderate +remedies, thought that, while their minds were in this state of +excitement, they could be bent with greater ease and safety than they +could be broken. + +Meanwhile an alarm of a more serious nature presented itself. Some +Latin horse came full speed to Rome, with the alarming news that the +Volscians were marching with a hostile army to besiege the city. +This announcement--so completely had discord split the state into +two--affected the senators and people in a far different manner. The +people exulted with joy, and said that the gods were coming to take +vengeance on the tyranny of the patricians. They encouraged one +another not to give in their names,[27] declaring that it was better +that all should perish together than that they should perish alone. +Let the patricians serve as soldiers; let the patricians take up arms, +so that those who reaped the advantages of war should also undergo its +dangers. But the senate, dejected and confounded by the double alarm +they felt, inspired both by their own countryman and by the enemy, +entreated the consul Servilius, whose disposition was more inclined to +favour the people, that he would extricate the commonwealth, beset as +it was with so great terrors. Then the consul, having dismissed the +senate, came forward into the assembly. There he declared that the +senate were solicitous that the interests of the people should be +consulted: but that alarm for the safety of the whole commonwealth had +interrupted their deliberation regarding that portion of the state, +which, though indeed the largest portion, was yet only a portion: nor +could they, seeing that the enemy were almost at the gates, allow +anything to take precedence of the war: nor, even though there should +be some respite, was it either to the credit of the people not to have +taken up arms in defence of their country unless they first received +pay, nor consistent with the dignity of the senators to have adopted +measures of relief for the distressed fortunes of their countrymen +through fear rather than afterward of their own free will. He then +further gave his speech the stamp of sincerity by an edict, by which +he ordained that no one should detain a Roman citizen either in chains +or in prison, so that he would thereby be deprived of the opportunity +of enrolling his name under the consuls, and that no one should either +take possession of or sell the goods of any soldier, while on service, +or detain his children or grandchildren in custody for debt. On +the publication of this edict, both the debtors who were present +immediately gave in their names, and crowds of persons, hastening from +all quarters of the city from private houses, as their creditors had +no right to detain their persons, ran together into the forum, to take +the military oath. These made up a considerable body of men, nor did +any others exhibit more conspicuous bravery or activity during the +Volscian war. The consul led out his forces against the enemy, and +pitched his camp at a little distance from them. + +The next night the Volscians, relying on the dissension among the +Romans, made an attempt on their camp, to see if there were any chance +of desertion or treachery during the night. The sentinels on guard +perceived them: the army was called up, and, the signals being given, +they ran to arms. Thus the attempt of the Volscians was frustrated; +the remainder of the night was given up to repose on both sides. The +next morning at daybreak the Volscians, having filled the trenches, +attacked the rampart. And already the fortifications were being +demolished on every side, when the consul, after having delayed a +little while for the purpose of testing the feelings of the soldiers, +although all from every quarter, and before all the debtors, were +crying out for him to give the signal, at length, when their great +eagerness became unmistakable, gave the signal for sallying forth, and +let out the soldiery impatient for the fight. At the very first onset +the enemy was routed; the fugitives were harassed in the rear, as far +as the infantry were able to follow them: the cavalry drove then in +consternation up to their camp. In a short time the legions having +been drawn around it, the camp itself was taken and plundered, since +panic had driven the Volscians even from thence also. On the next +day the legions were led to Suessa Pometia, whither the enemy had +retreated. In a few days the town was taken, and, after being taken, +was given up for plunder, whereby the needs of the soldiers were +somewhat relieved. The consul led back his victorious army to Rome +with the greatest renown to himself. On his departure for Rome, he was +met by the deputies of the Ecetrans, a tribe of the Volscians, who +were alarmed for the safety of their state after the capture of +Pometia. By a decree of the senate peace was granted them, but they +were deprived of their land. + +Immediately after this the Sabines also frightened the Romans: for it +was rather an alarm than a war. News was brought into the city during +the night that a Sabine army had advanced as far as the river Anio, +plundering the country: that the country houses there were being +pillaged and set fire to indiscriminately. Aulus Postumius, who had +been dictator in the Latin war, was immediately sent thither with all +the cavalry forces. The consul Servilius followed him with a picked +body of infantry. The cavalry cut off most of the stragglers; nor +did the Sabine legions make any resistance against the battalion of +infantry when it came up with them. Tired both by their march and +nightly raids, surfeited with eating and drinking in the country +houses, a great number of them had scarcely sufficient strength to +flee. Thus the Sabine war was heard of and finished in a single night. +On the following day, when all were sanguine that peace had been +secured in every quarter, ambassadors from the Auruncans presented +themselves before the senate, threatening to declare war unless the +troops were withdrawn from the Volscian territory. The army of the +Auruncans had set out from home at the same time as the ambassadors, +and the report that this army had been seen not far from Aricia threw +the Romans into such a state of confusion that neither could the +senate be consulted in regular form, nor could the Romans, while +themselves taking up arms, give a pacific answer to those who were +advancing to attack them. They marched to Aricia in hostile array, +engaged with the Auruncans not far from that town and in one battle +the war was ended. + +After the defeat of the Auruncans, the people of Rome, victorious in +so many wars within a few days, were looking to the consul to fulfill +his promises, and to the senate to keep their word, when Appius, both +from his natural pride, and in order to undermine the credit of his +colleague, issued a decree concerning borrowed money in the harshest +possible terms. From this time, both those who had been formerly in +confinement were delivered up to their creditors, and others also were +taken into custody. Whenever this happened to any soldier, he appealed +to the other consul. A crowd gathered about Servilius: they threw his +promises in his teeth, severally upbraiding him with their services in +war, and the scars they had received. They called upon him either +to lay the matter before the senate, or, as consul, to assist his +fellow-citizens, as commander, his soldiers. These remonstrances +affected the consul, but the situation of affairs obliged him to act +in a shuffling manner: so completely had not only his colleague, +but the whole of the patrician party, enthusiastically taken up the +opposite cause. And thus, by playing a middle part, he neither escaped +the odium of the people, nor gained the favour of the senators. +The patricians looked upon him as wanting in energy and a +popularity-hunting consul, the people, as deceitful: and it soon +became evident that he had become as unpopular as Appius himself. A +dispute had arisen between the consuls, as to which of them should +dedicate the Temple of Mercury. The senate referred the matter from +themselves to the people, and ordained that, to whichever of them the +task of dedication should be intrusted by order of the people, he +should preside over the markets, establish a guild of merchants,[28] +and perform the ceremonies in presence of the Pontifex Maximus. The +people intrusted the dedication of the temple to Marcus Laetorius, a +centurion of the firstrank, which, as would be clear to all, was done +not so muchout of respect to a person on whom an office above his rank +had been conferred, as to affront the consuls. Upon this one of the +consuls particularly, and the senators were highly incensed: however, +the people had gained fresh courage, and proceeded in quite a +different manner to what they had at first intended. For when they +despaired of redress from the consuls and senate, whenever they saw a +debtor led into court, they rushed together from all quarters. Neither +could the decree of the consul be heard distinctly for the noise and +shouting, nor, when he had pronounced the decree, did any one obey +it. Violence was the order of the day, and apprehension and danger in +regard to personal liberty was entirely transferred from the debtors +to the creditors, who were individually maltreated by the crowd before +the very eyes of the consul. In addition, the dread of the Sabine war +spread, and when a levy was decreed, nobody gave in his name: Appius +was enraged, and bitterly inveighed against the self-seeking conduct +of his colleague, in that he, by the inactivity he displayed to win +the favour of the people, was betraying the republic, and, besides not +having enforced justice in the matter of debt, likewise neglected +even to hold a levy, in obedience to the decree of the senate. Yet +he declared that the commonwealth was not entirely deserted, nor the +consular authority altogether degraded; that he, alone and unaided, +would vindicate both his own dignity and that of the senators. When +day by day the mob, emboldened by license, stood round him, he +commanded a noted ringleader of the seditious outbreaks to be +arrested. He, as he was being dragged off by the lictors, appealed +to the people; nor would the consul have allowed the appeal, because +there was no doubt regarding the decision of the people, had not his +obstinacy been with difficulty overcome, rather by the advice and +influence of the leading men, than by the clamours of the people; with +such a superabundance of courage was he endowed to support the weight +of public odium. The evil gained ground daily, not only by open +clamours, but, what was far more dangerous, by secession and by secret +conferences. At length the consuls, so odious to the commons, resigned +office, Servilius liked by neither party, Appius highly esteemed by +the senators. + +Then Aulus Verginius and Titus Vetusius entered on the consulship. +Upon this the commons, uncertain what sort of consuls they were likely +to have, held nightly meetings, some of them upon the Esquiline, and +others upon the Aventine, lest, when assembled in the forum, they +should be thrown into confusion by being obliged to adopt hasty +resolutions, and proceed inconsiderately and at hap-hazard. The +consuls, judging this proceeding to be of dangerous tendency, as it +really was, laid the matter before the senate. But, when it was laid +before them, they could not get them to consult upon it regularly; it +was received with an uproar on all sides, and by the indignant shouts +of the fathers, at the thought that the consuls threw on the senate +the odium for that which should have been carried out by consular +authority. Assuredly, if there were real magistrates in the republic, +there would have been no council at Rome but a public one. As it was, +the republic was divided and split into a thousand senate-houses and +assemblies, some meetings being held on the Esquiline, others on the +Aventine. One man, like Appius Claudius--for such a one was of more +value than a consul--would have dispersed those private meetings in a +moment. When the consuls, thus rebuked, asked them what it was that +they desired them to do, declaring that they would carry it out with +as much energy and vigour as the senators wished, the latter issued +a decree that they should push on the levy as briskly as possible +declaring that the people had become insolent from want of employment. +When the senate had been dismissed, the consuls assembled the tribunal +and summoned the younger men by name. When none of them answered to +his name, the people, crowding round after the manner of a general +assembly, declared that the people could no longer be imposed on: that +they should never enlist one single soldier unless the engagement made +publicly with the people were fulfilled: that liberty must be restored +to each before arms should be given, that so they might fight for +their country and fellow-citizens, and not for lords and masters. The +consuls understood the orders of the senate, but saw none of those who +talked so big within the walls of the senate-house present themselves +to share the odium they would incur. In fact, a desperate contest with +the commons seemed at hand. Therefore, before they had recourse to +extremities, they thought it advisable to consult the senate a second +time. Then indeed all the younger senators almost flew to the chairs +of the consuls, commanding them to resign the consulate, and lay aside +an office which they lacked the courage to support. + +Both plans having been sufficiently made proof of, the consuls at +length said: "Conscript fathers, that you may not say that you have +not been forewarned, know that a great disturbance is at hand. We +demand that those who accuse us most loudly of cowardice shall assist +us when holding the levy; we will proceed according to the resolution +of the most intrepid among you, since it so pleases you." Returning +to their tribunal, they purposely commanded one of the leaders of the +disturbance, who were in sight, to be summoned by name. When he stood +without saying a word, and a number of men stood round him in a ring, +to prevent violence being offered, the consuls sent a lictor to seize +him, but he was thrust back by the people. Then, indeed, those of +the fathers who attended the consuls, exclaiming against it as an +intolerable insult, hurried down from the tribunal to assist the +lictor. But when the violence of the people was turned from the +lictor, who had merely been prevented from arresting the man, against +the fathers, the riot was quelled by the interposition of consuls, +during which, however, without the use of stones or weapons, there was +more noise and angry words than actual injury inflicted. The senate, +summoned in a tumultuous manner was consulted in a manner still more +tumultuous, those who had been beaten demanding an inquiry, and the +most violent of them attempting to carry their point, not so much by +votes as by clamour and bustle. At length, when their passion had +subsided, and the consuls reproached them that there was no more +presence of mind in the senate than in the forum, the matter began to +be considered in order. Three different opinions were held. Publius +Verginius was against extending relief to all. He voted that they +should consider only those who, relying on the promise of Publius +Servilius the consul, had served in the war against the Volscians, +Auruncans, and Sabines. Titus Larcius was of opinion, that it was not +now a fitting time for services only to be rewarded: that all the +people were overwhelmed with debt, and that a stop could not be put to +the evil, unless measures were adopted for the benefit of all: nay, +further, if the condition of different parties were different discord +would thereby rather be inflamed than healed. Appius Claudius, being +naturally of a hard disposition, and further infuriated by the hatred +of the commons on the one hand, and the praises of the senators on the +other, insisted that such frequent riots were caused not by distress, +but by too much freedom: that the people were rather insolent than +violent: that this mischief, in fact, took its rise from the right of +appeal; since threats, not authority, was all that remained to the +consuls, while permission was given to appeal to those who were +accomplices in the crime. "Come," added he, "let us create a dictator +from whom there lies no appeal, and this madness, which has set +everything ablaze, will immediately subside. Then let me see the man +who will dare to strike a lictor, when he shall know that that person, +whose authority he has insulted, has sole and absolute power to flog +and behead him." + +To many the opinion of Appius appeared, as in fact it was, harsh and +severe. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius +appeared injurious, from the precedent they established: that of +Larcius they considered especially so, as one that would destroy all +credit. The advice of Verginius, was reckoned to be most moderate, and +a happy medium between the other two. But through party spirit and +men's regard for their private interest, which always has and always +will stand in the way of public councils, Appius prevailed, and was +himself near being created dictator--a step which would certainly +have alienated the commons at a most dangerous juncture, when the +Volscians, the Aequans, and the Sabines all happened to be in arms at +the same time. But the consuls and elders of the senate took care that +this command, in its own nature uncontrollable, should be intrusted +to a man of mild disposition. They elected Marcus Valerius son of +Volesus, dictator. The people, though they saw that this magistrate +was appointed against themselves, yet, as they possessed the right of +appeal by his brother's law, had nothing harsh or tyrannical to fear +from that family. Afterward an edict published by the dictator, which +was almost identical in terms with that of the consul Servilius, +further inspirited them. But, thinking reliance could be more safely +placed both in the man and in his authority,[29] they abandoned the +struggle and gave in their names. Ten legions were raised, a larger +army than had ever been raised before.[30] Of these, each of the +consuls had three legions assigned him; the dictator commanded four. + +The war could not now be any longer deferred. The Aequans had invaded +the territory of the Latins: the deputies of the latter begged the +senate either to send them assistance, or to allow them to arm +themselves for the purpose of defending their own frontiers. It seemed +safer that the Latins should be defended without their being armed, +than to allow them to handle arms again. Vetusius the consul was sent +to their assistance: thereby a stop was put to the raids. The Aequans +retired from the plains, and depending more on the advantages of +position than on their arms, secured themselves on the heights of the +mountains. The other consul, having set out against the Volscians, +lest he in like manner might waste time,[31] provoked the enemy to +pitch their camp nearer, and to risk a regular engagement, by ravaging +their lands. Both armies stood ready to advance, in front of their +lines, in hostile array, in a plain between the two camps. The +Volscians had considerably the advantage in numbers: accordingly, they +entered into battle in loose order, and in a spirit of contempt. The +Roman consul neither advanced his forces, nor allowed the enemy's +shouts to be returned, but ordered his men to stand with their spears +fixed in the ground, and whenever the enemy came to a hand-to-hand +encounter, to draw their swords, and attacking them with all their +force, to carry on the fight. The Volscians, wearied with running and +shouting attacked the Romans, who appeared to them paralyzed with +fear; but when they perceived the vigorous resistance that was made, +and saw the swords glittering before their eyes, just as if they had +fallen into an ambuscade, they turned and fled in confusion. Nor had +they sufficient strength even to flee as they had entered into action +at full speed. The Romans, on the other hand, as they had quietly +stood their ground at the beginning of the action, with physical +vigour unimpaired, easily overtook the weary foe, took their camp by +assault, and, having driven them from it, pursued them to Velitrae, +[32] into which city conquered and conquerors together rushed in one +body. By the promiscuous slaughter of all ranks, which there ensued, +more blood was shed than in the battle itself. Quarter was given to a +few, who threw down their arms and surrendered. + +While these operations were going on among the Volscians, the dictator +routed the Sabines, among whom by far the most important operations +of the war were carried on, put them to flight, and stripped them of +their camp. By a charge of cavalry he had thrown the centre of the +enemy's line into confusion, in the part where, owing to the wings +being extended too widely, they had not properly strengthened their +line with companies in the centre. The infantry fell upon them in +their confusion: by one and the same charge the camp was taken and the +war concluded. There was no other battle in those times more memorable +than this since the action at the Lake Regillus. The dictator rode +into the city in triumph. Besides the usual honours, a place in the +circus was assigned to him and his descendants, to see the public +games: a curule chair.[33] was fixed in that place. The territory of +Velitrae was taken from the conquered Volscians: colonists were sent +from Rome to Velitrae, and a colony led out thither. Some considerable +time afterward an engagement with the Aequans took place, but against +the wish of the consul, because they had to approach the enemy on +unfavourable ground: the soldiers, however, complaining that the +affair was being purposely protracted, in order that the dictator +might resign his office before they themselves returned to the city, +and so his promises might come to nothing, like those of the consul +before, forced him at all hazards to march his army up the hills. +This imprudent step, through the cowardice of the enemy, turned out +successful: for, before the Romans came within range, the Aequans, +amazed at their boldness, abandoned their camp, which they had pitched +in a very strong position, and ran down into the valleys that lay +behind them. There abundant plunder was found: the victory was a +bloodless one. While military operations had thus proved successful +in three quarters, neither senators nor people had dismissed their +anxiety in regard to the issue of domestic questions. With such +powerful influence and such skill had the usurers made arrangements, +so as to disappoint not only the people, but even the dictator +himself. For Valerius, after the return of the consul Vetusius, of all +the measures brought before the senate, made that on behalf of the +victorious people the first, and put the question, what it was their +pleasure should be done with respect to the debtors. And when his +report was disallowed, he said: "As a supporter of reconciliation, I +am not approved of. You will ere long wish, depend on it, that the +commons of Rome had supporters like myself. For my part, I will +neither further disappoint my Fellow-citizens, nor will I be dictator +to no purpose. Intestine dissensions and foreign wars have caused the +republic to stand in need of such a magistrate. Peace has been secured +abroad, it is impeded at home. I will be a witness to the disturbance +as a private citizen rather than as dictator." Accordingly, quitting +the senate-house, he resigned his dictatorship. The reason was clear +to the people: that he had resigned his office from indignation at +their treatment. Accordingly, as if his promise had been fully kept, +since it had not been his fault that his word had not been made +good, they escorted him on his return home with favouring shouts of +acclamation. + +Fear then seized the senators lest, if the army was disbanded, secret +meetings and conspiracies would be renewed; accordingly, although the +levy had been held by the dictator, yet, supposing that, as they had +sworn obedience to the consuls, the soldiers were bound by their oath, +they ordered the legions to be led out of the city, under the pretext +of hostilities having been renewed by the Aequans. By this course of +action the sedition was accelerated. And indeed it is said that it was +at first contemplated to put the consuls to death, that the legions +might be discharged from their oath: but that, being afterward +informed that no religious obligation could be rendered void by a +criminal act, they, by the advice of one Sicinius, retired, without +the orders of the consuls, to the Sacred Mount,[34] beyond the river +Anio, three miles from the city: this account is more commonly adopted +than that which Piso[35] has given, that the secession was made to the +Aventine. There, without any leader, their camp being fortified with +a rampart and trench, remaining quiet, taking nothing but what was +necessary for subsistence, they remained for several days, neither +molested nor molesting. Great was the panic in the city, and through +mutual fear all was in suspense. The people, left by their fellows in +the city, dreaded the violence of the senators: the senators dreaded +the people who remained in the city, not feeling sure whether they +preferred them to stay or depart. On the other hand, how long would +the multitude which had seceded, remain quiet? What would be the +consequences hereafter, if, in the meantime, any foreign war should +break out? They certainly considered there was no hope left, save in +the concord of the citizens: that this must be restored to the state +at any price. Under these circumstances it was resolved that Agrippa +Menenius, an eloquent man, and a favourite with the people, because +he was sprung from them, should be sent to negotiate with them. Being +admitted into the camp, he is said to have simply related to them the +following story in an old-fashioned and unpolished style: "At the time +when the parts of the human body did not, as now, all agree together, +but the several members had each their own counsel, and their own +language, the other parts were indignant that, while everything was +provided for the gratification of the belly by their labour and +service, the belly, resting calmly in their midst, did nothing but +enjoy the pleasures afforded it. They accordingly entered into a +conspiracy, that neither should the hands convey food to the mouth, +nor the mouth receive it when presented, nor the teeth have anything +to chew: while desiring, under the influence of this indignation, to +starve out the belly, the individual members themselves and the entire +body were reduced to the last degree of emaciation. Thence it became +apparent that the office of the belly as well was no idle one, that it +did not receive more nourishment than it supplied, sending, as it did, +to all parts of the body that blood from which we derive life and +vigour, distributed equally through the veins when perfected by the +digestion of the food." [36] By drawing a comparison from this, how +like was the internal sedition of the body to the resentment of the +people against the senators, he succeeded in persuading the minds of +the multitude. + +Then the question of reconciliation began to be discussed, and a +compromise was effected on certain conditions: that the commons should +have magistrates of their own, whose persons should be inviolable, who +should have the power of rendering assistance against the consuls, +and that no patrician should be permitted to hold that office. +Accordingly, two tribunes of the commons were created, Gaius Licinius +and Lucius Albinus. These created three colleagues for themselves. +It is clear that among these was Sicinius, the ring-leader of the +sedition; with respect to the other two, there is less agreement who +they were. There are some who say that only two tribunes were elected +on the Sacred Mount and that there the lex sacrata [37] was passed. + +During the secession of the commons, Spurius Cassius and Postumus +Cominius entered on the consulship. During their consulate, a treaty +was concluded with the Latin states. To ratify this, one of the +consuls remained at Rome: the other, who was sent to take command +in the Volscian war, routed and put to flight the Volscians of +Antium,[38] and pursuing them till they had been driven into the town +of Longula, took possession of the walls. Next he took Polusca, also +a city of the Volscians: he then attacked Corioli [39] with great +violence. There was at that time in the camp, among the young nobles, +Gnaeus Marcius, a youth distinguished both for intelligence and +courage, who was afterward surnamed Coriolanus. While the Roman army +was besieging Corioli, devoting all its attention to the townspeople, +who were kept, shut up within the walls, and there was no apprehension +of attack threatening from without, the Volscian legions, setting out +from Antium, suddenly attacked them, and the enemy sallied forth at +the same time from the town. Marcius at that time happened to be on +guard. He, with a chosen body of men, not only beat back the attack +of those who had sallied forth, but boldly rushed in through the +open gate, and, having cut down all who were in the part of the city +nearest to it, and hastily seized some blazing torches, threw them +into the houses adjoining the wall. Upon this, the shouts of the +townsmen, mingled with the wailings of the women and children +occasioned at first by fright, as is usually the case, both increased +the courage of the Romans, and naturally dispirited the Volscians +who had come to bring help, seeing that the city was taken. Thus the +Volscians of Antium were defeated, and the town of Corioli was taken. +And so much did Marcius by his valour eclipse the reputation of the +consul, that, had not the treaty concluded with the Latins by Spurius +Cassius alone, in consequence of the absence of his colleagues, and +which was engraved on a brazen column, served as a memorial of it, it +would have been forgotten that Postumus Cominius had conducted the war +with the Volscians. In the same year died Agrippa Menenius, a man all +his life equally a favourite with senators and commons, endeared still +more to the commons after the secession. This man, the mediator and +impartial promoter of harmony among his countrymen, the ambassador of +the senators to the commons, the man who brought back the commons to +the city, did not leave enough to bury him publicly. The people buried +him by the contribution of a sextans [40] per man. + +Titus Geganius and Publius Minucius were next elected consuls. In +this year, when abroad there was complete rest from war, and at home +dissensions were healed, another far more serious evil fell upon the +state: first, dearness of provisions, a consequence of the lands lying +untilled owing to the secession of the commons; then a famine, such as +attacks those who are besieged. And matters would certainly have ended +in the destruction of the slaves and commons, had not the consuls +adopted precautionary measures, by sending persons in every direction +to buy up corn, not only into Etruria on the coast to the right of +Ostia, and through the territory of the Volscians along the coast on +the left as far as Cumae, but into Sicily also, in quest of it. To +such an extent had the hatred of their neighbours obliged them to +stand in need of assistance from distant countries. When corn had +been bought up at Cumae, the ships were detained as security for the +property of the Tarquinians by the tyrant Aristodemus, who was their +heir. Among the Volscians and in the Pomptine territory it could not +even be purchased. The corn dealers themselves incurred danger from +the violence of the inhabitants. Corn was brought from Etruria by way +of the Tiber: by means of this the people were supported. In such +straitened resources they would have been harassed by a most +inopportune war, had not a dreadful pestilence attacked the Volscians +when on the point of beginning hostilities. The minds of the enemy +being so terrified by this calamity, that they felt a certain alarm, +even after it had abated the Romans both augmented the number of their +colonists at Velitrae, and despatched a new colony to the mountains Of +Norba [41] to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine district. Then +in the consulship of Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempronius a great +quantity of corn was imported from Sicily and it was debated in the +senate at what price it should be offered to the commons. Many were +of opinion that the time was come for crushing the commons, and +recovering those rights which had been wrested from the senators by +secession and violence. In particular, Marcius Coriolanus, an enemy to +tribunician power, said: "If they desire corn at its old price, let +them restore to the senators their former rights. Why do I, like a +captive sent under the yoke, as if I had been ransomed from robbers, +behold plebeian magistrates, and Sicinius invested with power? Am I to +submit to these indignities longer than is necessary? Am I, who have +refused to endure Tarquin as king, to tolerate Sicinius? Let him now +secede, let him call away the commons. The road lies open to the +Sacred Mount and to other hills. Let them carry off the corn from our +lands, as they did three years since. Let them have the benefit +of that scarcity which in their mad folly they have themselves +occasioned. I venture to say, that, overcome by these sufferings, they +will themselves become tillers of the lands, rather than, taking up +arms, and seceding, prevent them from being tilled." It is not so easy +to say whether it should have been done, but I think that it might +have been practicable for the senators, on the condition of lowering +the price of provisions, to have rid themselves of both the +tribunician power, and all the regulations imposed on them against +their will. + +This proposal both appeared to the senate too harsh and from +exasperation well-nigh drove the people to arms: they complained that +they were now being attacked with famine, as if they were enemies, +that they were being robbed of food and sustenance, that the corn +brought from foreign countries, the only support with which fortune +had unexpectedly furnished them, was being snatched from their mouth, +unless the tribunes were delivered in chains to Gnaeus Marcius, unless +satisfaction were exacted from the backs of the commons of Rome. That +in him a new executioner had arisen, one to bid them either die or +be slaves. He would have been attacked as he was leaving the +senate-house, had not the tribunes very opportunely appointed him a +day for trial: thereupon their rage was suppressed, every one saw +himself become the judge, the arbiter of the life and death of his +foe. At first Marcius listened to the threats of the tribunes with +contempt, saying that it was the right of affording aid, not of +inflicting punishment that had been conferred upon that office: that +they were tribunes of the commons and not of the senators. But the +commons had risen with such violent determination, that the senators +felt themselves obliged to sacrifice one man to arrive at a +settlement. They resisted, however, in spite of opposing odium, and +exerted, collectively, the powers of the whole order, as well as, +individually, each his own. At first, an attempt was made to see if, +by posting their clients [42] in several places, they could quash the +whole affair, by deterring individuals from attending meetings and +cabals. Then they all proceeded in a body--one would have said that +all the senators were on their trial--earnestly entreating the commons +that, if they would not acquit an innocent man, they would at least +for their sake pardon, assuming him guilty, one citizen, one senator. +As he did not attend in person on the day appointed, they persisted in +their resentment. He was condemned in his absence, and went into exile +among the Volscians, threatening his country, and even then cherishing +all the resentment of an enemy.[43] The Volscians received him kindly +on his arrival, and treated him still more kindly every day, in +proportion as his resentful feelings toward his countrymen became more +marked, and at one time frequent complaints, at another threats, were +heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of Attius Tullius, who was at that +time by far the chief man of the Volscian people, and had always been +a determined enemy of the Romans. Thus, while long-standing animosity +stimulated the one and recent resentment the other, they concerted +schemes for bringing about a war with Rome. They did not readily +believe that their own people could be persuaded to take up arms, so +often unsuccessfully tried, seeing that by many frequent wars, and +lastly, by the loss of their youth in the pestilence, their spirits +were now broken; they felt that in a case where animosity had now died +away from length of time they must proceed by scheming, that their +feelings might become exasperated under the influence of some fresh +cause for resentment. + +It happened that preparations were being made at Rome for a renewal of +the great games.[44] The cause of this renewal was as follows: On the +day of the games, in the morning when the show had not yet begun, a +certain head of a family had driven a slave of his through the middle +of the circus while he was being flogged, tied to the fork:[45] after +this the games had been begun, as if the matter had nothing to do with +any religious difficulty. Soon afterward Titus Latinius, a plebeian, +had a dream, in which Jupiter appeared to him and said that the person +who danced before the games had displeased him; unless those games +were renewed on a splendid scale, danger would threaten the city: +let him go and announce this to the consuls. Though his mind was not +altogether free from religious awe, his reverence for the dignity of +the magistrates, lest he might become a subject for ridicule in the +mouths of all, overcame his religious fear. This delay cost him dear, +for he lost his son within a few days; and, that there might be no +doubt about the cause of this sudden calamity, the same vision, +presenting itself to him in the midst of his sorrow of heart, seemed +to ask him, whether he had been sufficiently requited for his contempt +of the deity; that a still heavier penalty threatened him, unless he +went immediately and delivered the message to the consuls. The matter +was now still more urgent. While, however, he still delayed and kept +putting it off, he was attacked by a severe stroke of disease, a +sudden paralysis. Then indeed the anger of the gods frightened him. +Wearied out therefore by his past sufferings and by those that +threatened him, he convened a meeting of his friends and relatives, +and, after he had detailed to them all he had seen and heard, and the +fact of Jupiter having so often presented himself to him in his sleep, +and the threats and anger of Heaven speedily fulfilled in his own +calamities, he was, with the unhesitating assent of all who were +present, conveyed in a litter into the forum to the presence of the +consuls. From the forum, by order of the consuls, he was carried into +the senate-house, and, after he had recounted the same story to the +senators, to the great surprise of all, behold another miracle: he who +had been carried into the senate-house deprived of the use of all his +limbs, is reported to have returned home on his own feet, after he had +discharged his duty. + +The senate decreed that the games should be celebrated on as +magnificent a scale as possible. To those games a great number of +Volscians came at the suggestion of Attius Tullius. Before the games +had commenced, Tullius, as had been arranged privately with Marcius, +approached the consuls, and said that there were certain matters +concerning the common-wealth about which he wished to treat with them +in private. When all witnesses had been ordered to retire, he said: +"I am reluctant to say anything of my countrymen that may seem +disparaging. I do not, however, come to accuse them of any crime +actually committed by them, but to see to it that they do not commit +one. The minds of our people are far more fickle than I could wish. +We have learned that by many disasters; seeing that we are still +preserved, not through our own merits, but thanks to your forbearance. +There is now here a great multitude of Volscians; the games are going +on: the city will be intent on the exhibition. I remember what was +done in this city on a similar occasion by the youth of the Sabines. +My mind shudders at the thought that anything should be done +inconsiderately and rashly. I have deemed it right that these matters +should be mentioned beforehand to you, consuls, both for your sakes +and ours. With regard to myself, it is my determination to depart +hence home immediately, that I may not be tainted with the suspicion +of any word or deed if I remain." Having said this, he departed. When +the consuls had laid the matter before the senate, a matter that was +doubtful, though vouched for by a thoroughly reliable authority, the +authority, more than the matter itself, as usually happens, urged them +to adopt even needless precautions; and a decree of the senate having +been passed that the Volscians should quit the city, criers were sent +in different directions to order them all to depart before night. +They were at first smitten with great panic, as they ran in different +directions to their lodgings to carry away their effects. Afterward, +when setting out, indignation arose in their breasts, to think that +they, as if polluted with crime and contaminated, had been driven away +from the games on festival days, a meeting, so to speak, both of gods +and men. + +As they went along in an almost unbroken line, Tullius, who had +preceded them to the fountain of Ferentina, [46]received the chief +men, as each arrived, and, complaining and giving vent to expressions +of indignation, led both those, who eagerly listened to language that +favoured their resentment, and through them the rest of the multitude, +into a plain adjoining the road. There, having begun an address after +the manner of a public harangue, he said: "Though you were to forget +the former wrongs inflicted upon you by the Roman people, the +calamities of the nation of the Volscians, and all other such matters, +with what feelings, pray, do you regard this outrage offered you +to-day, whereby they have opened the games by insulting us? Did you +not feel that a triumph has been gained over you this day? That you, +when leaving, were the observed of all, citizens, foreigners, and so +many neighbouring states? That your wives, your children were led in +mockery before the eyes of men? What do you suppose were the feelings +of those who heard the voice of the crier? what of those who saw us +departing? What of those who met this ignominious cavalcade? What, +except that it is assuredly a matter of some offence against the gods: +and that, because, if we were present at the show, we should profane +the games, and be guilty of an act that would need expiation, for this +reason we are driven away from the dwellings of these pious people, +from their meeting and assembly? What then? Does it not occur to you +that we still live, because we have hastened our departure?--if indeed +this is a departure and not rather a flight. And do you not consider +this to be the city of enemies, in which, if you had delayed a single +day, you must all have died? War has been declared against you, to the +great injury of those who declared it, if you be men." Thus, being +both on their own account filled with resentment, and further incited +by this harangue, they severally departed to their homes, and by +stirring up each his own state, succeeded in bringing about the revolt +of the entire Volscian nation. + +The generals selected to take command in that war by theunanimous +choice of all the states were Attius Tullius and Gnaeus Marcius, an +exile from Rome, in the latter of whom far greater hopes were reposed. +These hopes he by no means disappointed, so that it was clearly seen +that the Roman commonwealth was powerful by reason of its generals +rather than its military force. Having marched to Circeii, he first +expelled from thence the Roman colonists, and handed over that city in +a state of freedom to the Volscians. From thence passing across the +country through by-roads into the Latin way, he deprived the Romans +of the following recently acquired towns, Satricum, Longula, Polusca, +Corioli. He next himself master of Lavinium, and then took in +succession Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Labici, and Pedum.[47] + +Lastly he marched from Pedum toward Rome, and having pitched his camp +at the Cluilian trenches five miles from the city, he openly ravaged +the Roman territory, guards being sent among the devastators to +preserve the lands of the patricians uninjured, whether it was that he +was chiefly incensed against the plebeians, or whether his object was +that dissension might arise between the senators and the people. And +it certainly would have arisen--so powerfully did the tribunes, by +inveighing against the leading men of the state, incite the plebeians, +already exasperated in themselves--had not apprehension of danger +from abroad, the strongest bond of union, united their minds, though +distrustful and mutually hostile. The only matter in which they were +not agreed was this: that, while the senate and consuls rested their +hopes on nothing else but arms, the plebeians preferred anything to +war. Spurius Nautius and Sextus Furius were now consuls. While they +were reviewing the legions, posting guards along the walls and other +places where they had determined that there should be outposts and +watches, a vast multitude of persons demanding peace terrified them +first by their seditious clamouring, and then compelled them to +convene the senate, to consider the question of sending ambassadors to +Gnaeus Marcius. The senate approved the proposal, when it was evident +that the spirits of the plebeians were giving way, ambassadors, sent +to Marcius to treat concerning peace, brought back the haughty answer: +If their lands were restored to the Volscians, the question of peace +might then be considered; if they were minded to enjoy the plunder of +war at their ease, he, remembering both the injurious treatment of his +countrymen, as well as the kindness of strangers, would do his utmost +to make it appear that his spirit was irritated by exile, not crushed. +The same envoys, being sent a second time, were not admitted into the +camp. It is recorded that the priests also, arrayed in the vestments +of their office, went as suppliants to the enemy's camp, but that they +did not influence his mind any more than the ambassadors. + +Then the matrons assembled in a body around Veturia, the mother of +Coriolanus, and his wife, Volumnia: whether that was the result of +public counsel, or of women's fear, I can not clearly ascertain. +Anyhow, they succeeded in inducing Veturia, a woman advanced in years, +and Volumnia with her two sons by Marcius, to go into the camp of the +enemy, and in prevailing upon women to defend the city by entreaties +and tears, since men were unable to defend it by arms. When they +reached the camp, and it was announced to Coriolanus that a great +crowd of women was approaching, he, as one who had been affected +neither by the public majesty of the state, as represented by its +ambassadors, nor by the sanctity of religion so strikingly spread +before his eyes and understanding in the person of its priests, was +at first much more obdurate against women's tears. Then one of his +acquaintances, who had recognised Veturia, distinguished beyond +all the rest by her sorrowful mien, standing in the midst with her +daughter-in-law and grandchildren, said, "Unless my eyes deceive +me, your mother, and wife and children, are at hand." Coriolanus, +bewildered, almost like one who had lost his reason, rushed from his +seat, and offered to embrace his mother as she met him; but she, +turning from entreaties to wrath, said: "Before I permit your embrace, +let me know whether I have come to an enemy or to a son, whether I am +in your camp a captive or a mother? Has length of life and a hapless +old age reserved me for this--to behold you first an exile, then an +enemy? Have you had the heart to lay waste this land, which gave +you birth and nurtured you? Though you had come in an incensed and +vengeful spirit, did not your resentment abate when you entered its +borders? When Rome came within view, did not the thought enter your +mind--within those walls are my house and household gods, my mother, +wife, and children? So then, had I not been a mother, Rome would not +now be besieged: had I not a son, I might have died free in a free +country. But I can now suffer nothing that will not bring more +disgrace on you than misery on me; nor, most wretched as I am, shall +I be so for long. Look to these, whom, if you persist, either an +untimely death or lengthened slavery awaits." Then his wife and +children embraced him: and the lamentation proceeding from the entire +crowd of women and their bemoaning their own lot and their country's, +at length overcame the man. Then, having embraced his family, he sent +them away; he himself withdrew his camp from the city. After he had +drawn off his troops from Roman territory, they say that he died +overwhelmed by the hatred excited against him on account of this act; +different writers give different accounts of his death: I find in +Fabius,[48] far the most ancient authority, that he lived to an +advanced age: at any rate, this writer states, that in his old age he +often made use of the expression, "that exile was far more miserable +to the aged." The men of Rome were not grudging in the award of their +due praise to the women, so truly did they live without disparaging +the merit of others: a temple was built, and dedicated to female +Fortune, to serve also as a record of the event. + +The Volscians afterward returned, having been joined by the Aequans, +into Roman territory: the latter, however, would no longer have Attius +Tullius as their leader; hence from a dispute, whether the Volscians +or the Aequans should give the general to the allied army, a quarrel, +and afterward a furious battle, broke out. Therein the good fortune of +the Roman people destroyed the two armies of the enemy, by a contest +no less ruinous than obstinate. Titus Sicinius and Gaius Aquilius were +made consuls. The Volscians fell to Sicinius as his province; the +Hernicans--for they, too, were in arms--to Aquilius. That year the +Hernicans were completely defeated; they met and parted with the +Volscians without any advantage being gained on either side. + +Spurius Cassius and Proculus Verginius were next made consuls; a +treaty was concluded with the Hernicans; two thirds of their land were +taken from them: of this the consul Cassius proposed to distribute +one half among the Latins, the other half among the commons. To this +donation he desired to add a considerable portion of land, which, +though public property, [49] he alleged was possessed by private +individuals. This proceeding alarmed several of the senators, the +actual possessors, at the danger that threatened their property; the +senators moreover felt anxiety on public grounds, fearing that the +consul by his donation was establishing an influence dangerous to +liberty. Then, for the first time, an agrarian law was proposed, which +from that time down to the memory of our own days has never been +discussed without the greatest civil disturbances. The other consul +opposed the donation, supported by the senators, nor, indeed, were all +the commons opposed to him: they had at first begun to feel disgust +that this gift had been extended from the citizens to the allies, and +thus rendered common: in the next place they frequently heard the +consul Verginius in the assemblies as it were prophesying, that the +gift of his colleague was pestilential: that those lands were sure to +bring slavery to those who received them: that the way was being paved +to a throne. Else why were it that the allies were thus included, and +the Latin nation? What was the object of a third of the land that had +been taken being restored to the Hernicans, so lately their enemies, +except that those nations might have Cassius for their leader instead +of Coriolanus? The dissuader and opposer of the agrarian law now began +to be popular. Both consuls then vied with each other in humouring the +commons. Verginius said that he would suffer the lands to be assigned, +provided they were assigned to no one but a Roman citizen. Cassius, +because in the agrarian donation he sought popularity among the +allies, and was therefore lowered in the estimation of his countrymen, +commanded, in order that by another gift he might win the affections +of the citizens, that the money received for the Sicilian corn should +be refunded to the people. That, however, the people spurned as +nothing else than a ready money bribe for regal authority: so +uncompromisingly were his gifts rejected, as if there was abundance of +everything, in consequence of their inveterate suspicion that he was +aiming at sovereign power. As soon as he went out of office, it is +certain that he was condemned and put to death. There are some +who represent that his father was the person who carried out the +punishment: that he, having tried the case at home, scourged him and +put him to death, and consecrated his son's private property to Ceres; +that out of this a statue was set up and inscribed, "Presented out of +the property of the Cassian family." In some authors I find it stated, +which is more probable, that a day was assigned him to stand his +trial for high treason, by the quaestors,[50] Caeso Fabius and Lucius +Valerius, and that he was condemned by the decision of the people; +that his house was demolished by a public decree: this is the spot +where there is now an open space before the Temple of Tellus.[51] +However, whether the trial was held in private or public, he was +condemned in the consulship of Servius Cornelius and Quintus Fabius. + +The resentment of the people against Cassius was not lasting. The +charm of the agrarian law, now that its proposer was removed, of +itself entered their minds: and their desire of it was further kindled +by the meanness of the senators, who, after the Volscians and Æquans +had been completely defeated in that year, defrauded the soldiers of +their share of the booty; whatever was taken from the enemy, was sold +by the consul Fabius, and the proceeds lodged in the public treasury. +All who bore the name of Fabius became odious to the commons on +account of the last consul: the patricians, however, succeeded in +getting Cæso Fabius elected consul with Lucius Æmilius. The commons, +still further aggravated at this, provoked war abroad by exciting +disturbance at home;[52] in consequence of the war civil dissensions +were then discontinued. Patricians and commons uniting, under the +command of Æmilius, overcame the Volscians and Æquans, who renewed +hostilities, in a successful engagement. The retreat, however, +destroyed more of the enemy than the battle; so perseveringly did the +cavalry pursue them when routed. During the same year, on the ides of +July,[53]the Temple of Castor was dedicated: it had been vowed during +the Latin war in the dictatorship of Postumius: his son, who was +elected duumvir for that special purpose, dedicated it. + +In that year, also, the minds of the people were excited by the +allurements of the agrarian law. The tribunes of the people +endeavoured to enhance their authority, in itself agreeable to the +people, by promoting a popular law. The patricians, considering that +there was enough and more than enough frenzy in the multitude without +any additional incitement, viewed with horror largesses and all +inducements to ill-considered action: the patricians found in the +consuls most energetic abettors in resistance. That portion of the +commonwealth therefore prevailed; and not for the moment only, but for +the coming year also they succeeded in securing the election of Marcus +Fabius, Cæso's brother, as consul, and one still more detested by the +commons for his persecution of Cassius--namely, Lucius Valerius. +In that year also was a contest with the tribunes. The law came to +nothing, and the supporters of the law proved to be mere boasters, by +their frequent promises of a gift that was never granted. The Fabian +name was thenceforward held in high repute, after three successive +consulates, and all as it were uniformly tested in contending with the +tribunes; accordingly, the honour remained for a considerable time +in that family, as being right well placed. A war with Veii was then +begun: the Volscians also renewed hostilities; but, while their +strength was almost more than sufficient for foreign wars, they +only abused it by contending among themselves. In addition to the +distracted state of the public mind prodigies from heaven increased +the general alarm, exhibiting almost daily threats in the city and in +the country, and the soothsayers, being consulted by the state and by +private individuals, declared, at one time by means of entrails, at +another by birds, that there was no other cause for the deity having +been roused to anger, save that the ceremonies of religion were not +duly performed. These terrors, however, terminated in this, that +Oppia, a vestal virgin, being found guilty of a breach of chastity, +suffered punishment. [54] Quintus Fabius and Gaius Julius were next +elected consuls. During this year the dissension at home was not +abated, while the war abroad was more desperate. The Æquans took up +arms: the Veientines also invaded and plundered the Roman territory: +as the anxiety about these wars increased, Cæso Fabius and Spurius +Furius were appointed consuls. The Æquans were laying siege to Ortona, +a Latin city. The Veientines, now sated with plunder, threatened to +besiege Rome itself. These terrors, which ought to have assuaged the +feelings of the commons, increased them still further: and the people +resumed the practice of declining military service, not of their own +accord, as before, but Spurius Licinius, a tribune of the people, +thinking that the time had come for forcing the agrarian law on +the patricians by extreme necessity, had undertaken the task of +obstructing the military preparations. However, all the odium against +the tribunician power was directed against the author of this +proceeding: and even his own colleagues rose up against him as +vigorously as the consuls; and by their assistance the consuls held +the levy. An army was raised for the two wars simultaneously; one was +intrusted to Fabius to be led against the Veientines, the other to +Furius to operate against the Æquans. In regard to the latter, indeed, +nothing took place worthy of mention. Fabius had considerably more +trouble with his countrymen than with the enemy: that one man alone, +as consul, sustained the commonwealth, which the army was doing its +best to betray, as far as in it lay, from hatred of the consul. For +when the consul, in addition to his other military talents, of which +he had exhibited abundant instances in his preparations for and in his +conduct of war, had so drawn up his line that he routed the enemy's +army solely by a charge of his cavalry, the infantry refused to pursue +them when routed; nor, although the exhortation of their general, whom +they hated, had no effect upon them, could even their own infamy, and +the immediate public disgrace and subsequent danger likely to arise, +if the enemy recovered their courage, induce them to quicken their +pace, or even, if nothing else, to stand in order of battle. Without +orders they faced about, and with a sorrowful air (one would have +thought them defeated) they returned to camp, execrating at one time +their general, at another the vigour displayed by the cavalry. Nor +did the general know where to look for any remedies for so harmful a +precedent: so true is it that the most distinguished talents will be +more likely found deficient in the art of managing a countryman, than +in that of conquering an enemy. The consul returned to Rome, not +having so much increased his military glory as irritated and +exasperated the hatred of his soldiers toward him. The patricians, +however, succeeded in keeping the consulship in the Fabian family. +They elected Marcus Fabius consul; Gnaeus Manlius was assigned as a +colleague to Fabius. + +This year also found a tribune to support an agrarian law. This was +Tiberius Pontificius, who, pursuing the same tactics, as if it had +succeeded in the case of Spurius Licinius, obstructed the levy for a +little time. The patricians being once more perplexed, Appius Claudius +declared that the tribunician power had been put down the year +before, for the moment by the fact, for the future by the precedent +established, since it was found that it could be rendered ineffective +by its own strength; for that there never would be wanting a tribune +who would both be willing to obtain a victory for himself over his +colleague, and the good-will of the better party to on advancement of +the public weal: that more tribunes than one, if there were need of +more than one, would be ready to assist the consuls: and that in fact +one would be sufficient even against all.[55] Only let the consuls and +leading members of the senate take care to win over, if not all, at +least some of the tribunes, to the side of the commonwealth and the +senate. The senators, instructed by the counsels of Appius, both +collectively addressed the tribunes with kindness and courtesy, and +the men of consular rank, according as each possessed private personal +influence over them individually, and, partly by conciliation, partly +by authority, prevailed so far as to make them consent that the powers +of the tribunician office should be beneficial to the state; and by +the aid of four tribunes against one obstructor of the public good, +the consuls carried out the levy. They then set out to the war against +Veii, to which auxiliaries had assembled from all parts of Etruria, +not so much influenced by feelings of regard for the Veientines, +as because they had formed a hope that the power of Rome could be +destroyed by internal discord. And in the general councils of all the +states of Etruria the leading men murmured that the power of Rome +would last forever, unless they were distracted by disturbances among +themselves: that this was the only poison, this the bane discovered +for powerful states, to render mighty empires mortal: that this evil, +a long time checked, partly by the wise measures of the patricians, +partly by the forbearance of the commons, had now proceeded to +extremities: that two states were now formed out of one: that each +party had its own magistrates, its own laws: that, although at first +they were accustomed to be turbulent during the levies, still these +same individuals had notwithstanding ever been obedient to their +commanders during war: that as long as military discipline was +retained, no matter what might be the state of the city, the evil +might have been withstood: but that now the custom of not obeying +their officers followed the Roman soldier even to the camp: that in +the last war, even in a regular engagement and in the very heat of +battle, by consent of the army the victory had been voluntarily +surrendered to the vanquished Aequans: that the standards had been +deserted, the general abandoned on the field, and that the army had +returned to camp without orders: without doubt, if they persevered, +Rome might be conquered by means of her own soldiery: nothing else was +necessary save a declaration and show of war: the fates and the +gods would of themselves manage the rest. These hopes had armed the +Etruscans, who by many changes of fortune had been vanquished and +victors in turn. + +The Roman consuls also dreaded nothing else but their own strength and +their own arms. The recollection of the most mischievous precedent set +in the last war was a terrible warning to them not to let matters +go so far that they would have two armies to fear at the same time. +Accordingly, they kept within their camp, avoiding battle, owing to +the two-fold danger that threatened them, thinking that length of time +and circumstances themselves would perchance soften down resentment, +and bring them to a healthy frame of mind. The Veientine enemy and the +Etruscans proceeded with proportionately greater precipitation; +they provoked them to battle, at first by riding up to the camp and +challenging them; at length when they produced no effect, by reviling +the consuls and the army alike, they declared that the pretence of +internal dissension was assumed as a cloak for cowardice: and that the +consuls rather distrusted the courage than disbelieved the sincerity +of their soldiers: that inaction and idleness among men in arms were a +novel form of sedition. Besides this they uttered insinuations, partly +true and partly false, as to the upstart nature of their race and +origin. While they loudly proclaimed this close to the very rampart +and gates, the consuls bore it without impatience: but at one time +indignation, at another shame, agitated the breasts of the ignorant +multitude, and diverted their attention from intestine evils; they +were unwilling that the enemy should remain unpunished; they did not +wish success either to the patricians or the consuls; foreign and +domestic hatred struggled for the mastery in their minds: at length +the former prevailed, so haughty and insolent were the jeers of the +enemy; they crowded in a body to the general's tent; they desired +battle, they demanded that the signal should be given. The consuls +conferred together as if to deliberate; they continued the conference +for a long time: they were desirous of fighting, but that desire they +considered should be checked and concealed, that by opposition and +delay they might increase the ardour of the soldiery now that it was +once roused. The answer was returned that the matter in question was +premature, that it was not yet time for fighting: let them keep within +their camp. They then issued a proclamation that they should abstain +from fighting: if any one fought without orders, they would punish +him as an enemy. When they were thus dismissed, their eagerness for +fighting increased in proportion as they believed the consuls were +less disposed for it; the enemy, moreover, who now showed themselves +with greater boldness, as soon as it was known that the consuls had +determined not to fight, further kindled their ardour. For they +supposed that they could insult them with impunity; that the soldiers +were not trusted with arms; that the affair would explode in a violent +mutiny; that an end had come to the Roman Empire. Relying on these +hopes, they ran up to the gates, heaped abuse on the Romans, and with +difficulty refrained from assaulting the camp. Then indeed the Romans +could no longer endure their insults: they ran from every quarter of +the camp to the consuls: they no longer, as formerly, put forth their +demands with reserve, through the mediation of the centurions of the +first rank, but all proceeded indiscriminately with loud clamours. The +affair was now ripe; yet still they hesitated. Then Fabius, as his +colleague was now inclined to give way in consequence of his dread of +mutiny in face of the increasing uproar, having commanded silence +by sound of trumpet, said: "I know that those soldiers are able to +conquer, Gneius Manlius: by their own conduct they themselves have +prevented me from knowing that they are willing. Accordingly, I have +resolved and determined not to give the signal, unless they swear that +they will return from this battle victorious. The soldier has once +deceived the Roman consul in the field, the gods he will never +deceive." There was a centurion, Marcus Flavoleius, one of the +foremost in demanding battle: said he, "Marcus Fabius, I will return +victorious from the field." He invoked upon himself, should he deceive +them, the wrath of Father Jove, Mars Gradivus, and the other gods. +After him in succession the whole army severally took the same oath. +After they had been sworn, the signal was given: they took up arms and +marched into battle, full of rage and of hope. They bade the Etruscans +now utter their reproaches: now severally demanded that the enemy, so +ready of tongue, should face them, now that they were armed. On that +day, both commons and patricians alike showed distinguished bravery: +the Fabian family shone forth most conspicuous: they were determined +to recover in that battle the affections of the commons, estranged by +many civil contests. + +The army was drawn up in order of battle; nor did the Veientine foe +and the Etruscan legions decline the contest. They entertained an +almost certain hope that the Romans would no more fight with them than +they had with the Aequans; that even some more serious attempt was not +to be despaired of, considering the sorely irritated state of their +feelings, and the critical condition of affairs. The result turned out +altogether different: for never before in any other war did the Roman +soldiers enter the field with greater fury, so exasperated were they +by the taunts of the enemy on the one hand, and the dilatoriness of +the consuls on the other. Before the Etruscans had time to form their +ranks, their javelins having been rather thrown away at random, in +the first confusion, than aimed at the enemy, the battle had become +a hand-to-hand encounter, even with swords, in which the fury of +war rages most fiercely. Among the foremost the Fabian family was +distinguished for the sight it afforded and the example it presented +to its fellow-citizens; one of these, Quintus Fabius, who had been +consul two years before, as he advanced at the head of his men against +a dense body of Veientines, and incautiously engaged amid numerous +parties of the enemy, received a sword-thrust through the breast at +the hands of a Tuscan emboldened by his bodily strength and skill in +arms: on the weapon being extracted, Fabius fell forward on the +wound. Both armies felt the fall of this one man, and the Romans in +consequence were beginning to give way, when the consul Marcus Fabius +leaped over the body of his prostrate kinsman, and, holding his +buckler in front, cried out: "Is this what you swore, soldiers, that +you would return to the camp in flight? Are you so afraid of your +most cowardly foes, rather than of Jupiter and Mars, by whom you have +sworn? Well, then, I, who have taken no oath, will either return +victorious, or will fall fighting here beside thee, Quintus Fabius." +Then Caeso Fabius, the consul of the preceding year, addressed the +consul: "Brother, is it by these words you think you will prevail on +them to fight? The gods, by whom they have sworn, will bring it about. +Let us also, as becomes men of noble birth, as is worthy of the Fabian +name, kindle the courage of the soldiers by fighting rather than by +exhortation." Thus the two Fabii rushed forward to the front with +spears presented, and carried the whole line with them. + +The battle being thus restored in one quarter, Gnaeus Manlius, the +consul, with no less ardour, encouraged the fight on the other wing, +where the course of the fortune of war was almost identical. For, as +the soldiers eagerly followed Quintus Fabius on the one wing, so did +they follow the consul Manlius on this, as he was driving the enemy +before him now nearly routed. When, having received a severe wound, he +retired from the battle, they fell back, supposing that he was slain, +and would have abandoned the position had not the other consul, +galloping at full speed to that quarter with some troops of horse, +supported their drooping fortune, crying out that his colleague was +still alive, that he himself was now at hand victorious, having routed +the other wing. Manlius also showed himself in sight of all to restore +the battle. The well-known faces of the two consuls kindled the +courage of the soldiers: at the same time, too, the enemy's line was +now thinner, since, relying on their superior numbers, they had drawn +off their reserves and despatched them to storm the camp This was +assaulted without much resistance: and, while they wasted time, +bethinking themselves of plunder rather than fighting, the Roman +triarii,[56] who had not been able to sustain the first shock, having +sent a report to the consuls of the position of affairs, returned in a +compact body to the prætorium,[57] and of their own accord renewed +the battle. The consul Manlius also having returned to the camp, and +posted soldiers at all the gates, had blocked up every passage against +the enemy. This desperate situation aroused the fury rather than the +bravery of the Etruscans; for when, rushing on wherever hope held +out the prospect of escape, they had advanced with several fruitless +efforts, a body of young men attacked the consul himself, who was +conspicuous by his arms. The first missiles were intercepted by those +who stood around him; afterward their violence could not be withstood. +The consul fell, smitten with a mortal wound, and all around him were +put to flight. The courage of the Etruscans increased. Terror drove +the Romans in dismay through the entire camp; and matters would have +come to extremities had not the lieutenants,[58] hastily seizing the +body of the consul opened a passage for the enemy at one gate.[59] +Through this they rushed out; and going away in the utmost disorder, +they fell in with the other consul, who had been victorious; there +a second time they were cut down and routed in every direction. A +glorious victory was won, saddened, however, by two such illustrious +deaths. The consul, therefore, on the senate voting him a triumph, +replied, that if the army could triumph without its general, he would +readily accede to it in consideration of its distinguished service in +that war: that for his own part, as his family was plunged in grief +in consequence of the death of his brother Quintus Fabius, and the +commonwealth in some degree bereaved by the loss of one of her +consuls, he would not accept the laurel disfigured by public and +private grief. The triumph thus declined was more illustrious than +any triumph actually enjoyed; so true it is, that glory refused at +a fitting moment sometimes returns with accumulated lustre. He next +celebrated the two funerals of his colleague and brother, one after +the other, himself delivering the funeral oration over both, wherein, +by yielding up to them the praise that was his own due, he himself +obtained the greatest share of it; and, not unmindful of that which +he had determined upon at the beginning of his consulate, namely, the +regaining the affection of the people, he distributed the wounded +soldiers among the patricians to be attended to. Most of them were +given to the Fabii: nor were they treated with greater attention +anywhere else. From this time the Fabii began to be popular, and that +not by aught save such conduct as was beneficial to the state. + +Accordingly, Caeso Fabius, having been elected consul with Titus +Verginius not more with the good-will of the senators than of the +commons, gave no attention either to wars, or levies, or anything else +in preference, until, the hope of concord being now in some measure +assured, the feelings of the commons should be united with those +of the senators at the earliest opportunity. Accordingly, at the +beginning of the year he proposed that before any tribune should stand +forth as a supporter of the agrarian law, the patricians themselves +should be beforehand in bestowing the gift unasked and making it their +own: that they should distribute among the commons the land taken from +the enemy in as equal a proportion as possible; that it was but just +that those should enjoy it by whose blood and labour it had been won. +The patricians rejected the proposal with scorn: some even complained +that the once vigorous spirit of Caeso was running riot, and decaying +through a surfeit of glory. There were afterward no party struggles in +the city. The Latins, however, were harassed by the incursions of +the Aequans. Caeso being sent thither with an army, crossed into the +territory of the Aequans themselves to lay it waste. The Aequans +retired into the towns, and kept themselves within the walls: on that +account no battle worth mentioning was fought. + +However, a reverse was sustained at the hands of the Veientine foe +owing to the rashness of the other consul; and the army would have +been all cut off, had not Caeso Fabius come to their assistance +in time. From that time there was neither peace nor war with the +Veientines: their mode of operation had now come very near to the form +of brigandage. They retired before the Roman troops into the city; +when they perceived that the troops were drawn off, they made +incursions into the country, alternately mocking war with peace and +peace with war. Thus the matter could neither be dropped altogether, +nor brought to a conclusion. Besides, other wars were threatening +either at the moment, as from the Aequans and Volscians, who remained +inactive no longer than was necessary, to allow the recent smart of +their late disaster to pass away, or at no distant date, as it was +evident that the Sabines, ever hostile, and all Etruria would soon +begin to stir up war: but the Veientines, a constant rather than a +formidable enemy, kept their minds in a state of perpetual uneasiness +by petty annoyances more frequently than by any real danger to be +apprehended from them, because they could at no time be neglected, and +did not suffer the Romans to turn their attention elsewhere. Then the +Fabian family approached the senate: the consul spoke in the name of +the family: "Conscript fathers, the Veientine war requires, as you +know, an unremitting rather than a strong defence. Do you attend to +other wars: assign the Fabii as enemies to the Veientines. We pledge +ourselves that the majesty of the Roman name shall be safe in +that quarter. That war, as if it were a family matter, it is our +determination to conduct at our own private expense. In regard to it +let the republic be spared the expense of soldiers and money." +The warmest thanks were returned to them. The consul, leaving the +senate-house, accompanied by the Fabii in a body, who had been +standing in the porch of the senate-house, awaiting the decree of the +senate, returned home. They were ordered to attend on the following +day in arms at the consul's gate: they then retired to their homes. + +The report spread through the entire city; they extolled the Fabii +to the skies: that a single family had undertaken the burden of the +state; that the Veientine war had now become a private concern, a +private quarrel. If there were two families of the same strength in +the city, let them demand, the one the Volscians for itself, the other +the Aequans; that all the neighbouring states could be subdued, +while the Roman people all the time enjoyed profound peace. The day +following, the Fabii took up arms; they assembled where they had been +ordered. The consul, coming forth in his military robe, beheld the +whole family in the porch drawn up in order of march; being received +into the centre, he ordered the standards to be advanced. Never did +an army march through the city, either smaller in number, or more +distinguished in renown and more admired by all. Three hundred and six +soldiers, all patricians, all of one family, not one of whom an honest +senate would reject as a leader under any circumstances whatever, +proceeded on their march, threatening the Veientine state with +destruction by the might of a single family. A crowd followed, +one part belonging to themselves, consisting of their kinsmen and +comrades, who contemplated no half measures, either as to their hope +or anxiety, but everything on a grand scale:[60] the other aroused by +solicitude for the public weal, unable to express their esteem and +admiration. They bade them proceed in their brave resolve, proceed +with happy omens, and render the issue proportionate to the +undertaking: thence to expect consulships and triumphs, all rewards, +all honours from them. As they passed the Capitol and the citadel, and +the other sacred edifices, they offered up prayers to all the gods +that presented themselves to their sight, or to their mind, that they +would send forward that band with prosperity and success, and soon +send them back safe into their country to their parents. In vain were +these prayers uttered. Having set out on their luckless road by the +right-hand arch of the Carmental gate,[61] they arrived at the river +Cremera:[62] this appeared a favourable situation for fortifying an +outpost. + +Lucius Aemilius and Gaius Servilius were then created consuls. And as +long as there was nothing else to occupy them but mutual devastations, +the Fabii were not only able to protect their garrison, but through +the entire tract, where the Tuscan territory adjoins the Roman, they +protected all their own districts and ravaged those of the enemy, +spreading their forces along both frontiers. There was afterward a +cessation, though not for long, of these depredations: while both the +Veientines, having sent for an army from Etruria,[63] assaulted the +outpost at the Cremera, and the Roman troops, brought up by the consul +Lucius Aemilius, came to a close engagement in the field with the +Etruscans; the Veientines, however, had scarcely time to draw up their +line: for, during the first alarm, while they were entering the lines +behind their colours, and they were stationing their reserves, a +brigade of Roman cavalry, charging them suddenly in flank, deprived +them of all opportunity not only of opening the fight, but even of +standing their ground. Thus being driven back to the Red Rocks [64]. +(where they had pitched their camp), as suppliants they sued for +peace; and, after it was granted, owing to the natural inconsistency +of their minds, they regretted it even before the Roman garrison was +withdrawn from the Cremera. + +Again the Veientine state had to contend with the Fabii without any +additional military armament: and not merely did they make raids into +each other's territories, or sudden attacks upon those carrying on +the raids, but they fought repeatedly on level ground, and in pitched +battles: and one family of the Roman people oftentimes gained the +victory over an entire Etruscan state, and a most powerful one for +those times. This at first appeared mortifying and humiliating to the +Veientines: then they conceived the design, suggested by the state of +affairs, of surprising their daring enemy by an ambuscade; they were +even glad that the confidence of the Fabii was increasing owing to +their great success. Wherefore cattle were frequently driven in the +path of the plundering parties, as if they had fallen in their way +by accident, and tracts of land left abandoned by the flight of +the peasants: and reserve bodies of armed men, sent to prevent the +devastations, retreated more frequently in pretended than in real +alarm. By this time the Fabii had conceived such contempt for the +enemy that they believed that their arms, as yet invincible, could not +be resisted either in any place or on any occasion: this presumption +carried them so far that at the sight of some cattle at a distance +from Cremera, with an extensive plain lying between, they ran down to +them, in spite of the fact that some scattered bodies of the enemy +were visible: and when, anticipating nothing, and in disorderly haste, +they had passed the ambuscade placed on either side of the road +itself, and, dispersed in different directions, had begun to carry off +the cattle that were straying about, as is usual when frightened, the +enemy started suddenly in a body from their ambuscade, and surrounded +them both in front and on every side. At first the noise of their +shouts, spreading, terrified them; then weapons assailed them from +every side: and, as the Etruscans closed in, they also were compelled, +hemmed in as they were by an unbroken body of armed men, to form +themselves into a square of narrower compass the more the enemy +pressed on: this circumstance rendered both their own scarcity of +numbers noticeable and the superior numbers of the Etruscans, whose +ranks were crowded in a narrow space. Then, having abandoned the +plan of fighting, which they had directed with equal effort in every +quarter, they all turned their forces toward one point; straining +every effort in that direction, both with their arms and bodies, and +forming themselves into a wedge, they forced a passage. The way led to +a gradually ascending hill: here they first halted: presently, as soon +as the higher ground afforded them time to gain breath, and to recover +from so great a panic, they repulsed the foe as they ascended: and the +small band, assisted by the advantages of the ground, was gaining the +victory, had not a party of the Veientines, sent round the ridge of +the hill, made their way to the summit: thus the enemy again got +possession of the higher ground; all the Fabii were cut down to a man, +and the fort was taken by assault: it is generally agreed that three +hundred and six were slain; that one only, who had nearly attained +the age of puberty, survived, who was to be the stock for the Fabian +family, and was destined to prove the greatest support of the Roman +people in dangerous emergencies on many occasions both at home and in +war.[65] + +At the time when this disaster was sustained, Gaius Horatius and Titus +Menenius were consuls. Menenius was immediately sent against +the Tuscans, now elated with victory. On that occasion also an +unsuccessful battle was fought, and the enemy took possession of the +Janiculum: and the city would have been besieged, since scarcity of +provisions distressed them in addition to the war--for the Etruscans +had passed the Tiber--had not the consul Horatius been recalled from +the Volscians; and so closely did that war approach the very walls, +that the first battle was fought near the Temple of Hope[66] with +doubtful success, and a second at the Colline gate. There, although +the Romans gained the upper hand by only a trifling advantage, yet +that contest rendered the soldiers more serviceable for future battles +by the restoration of their former courage. + +Aulus Verginius and Spurius Servilius were next chosen consuls. After +the defeat sustained in the last battle, the Veientines declined an +engagement.[67] Ravages were committed, and they made repeated attacks +in every direction upon the Roman territory from the Janiculum, as if +from a fortress: nowhere were cattle or husbandmen safe. They were +afterward entrapped by the same stratagem as that by which they +had entrapped the Fabii: having pursued cattle which had been +intentionally driven on in all directions to decoy them, they fell +into an ambuscade; in proportion as they were more numerous,[68] the +slaughter was greater. The violent resentment resulting from this +disaster was the cause and beginning of one still greater: for having +crossed the Tiber by night, they attempted to assault the camp of the +consul Servilius; being repulsed from thence with great slaughter, +they with difficulty made good their retreat to the Janiculum. The +consul himself also immediately crossed the Tiber, and fortified +his camp at the foot of the Janiculum: at daybreak on the following +morning, being both somewhat elated by the success of the battle of +the day before, more, however, because the scarcity of corn forced him +to adopt measures, however dangerous, provided only they were more +expeditious, he rashly marched his army up the steep of the Janiculum +to the camp of the enemy, and, being repulsed from thence with more +disgrace than when he had repulsed them on the preceding day, he +was saved, both himself and his army, by the intervention of his +colleague. The Etruscans, hemmed in between the two armies, and +presenting their rear to the one and the other by turns, were +completely destroyed. Thus the Veientine war was crushed by a +successful piece of audacity. [69] + +Together with peace, provisions came in to the city in greater +abundance, both by reason of corn having been brought in from +Campania, and, as soon as the fear of want, which every one felt was +likely to befall himself, left them, by the corn being brought out, +which had been stored. Then their minds once more became wanton from +plenty and ease, and they sought at home their former subjects of +complaint, now that there was none abroad; the tribunes began to +excite the commons by their poisonous charm, the agrarian law: they +roused them against the senators who opposed it, and not only against +them as a body, but against particular individuals. Quintus Considius +and Titus Genucius, the proposers of the agrarian law, appointed a day +of trial for Titus Menenius: the loss of the fort of Cremera, while +the consul had his standing camp at no great distance from thence, +was the cause of his unpopularity. This crushed him, though both the +senators had exerted themselves in his behalf with no less earnestness +than in behalf of Coriolanus, and the popularity of his father Agrippa +was not yet forgotten. The tribunes, however, acted leniently in +the matter of the fine: though they had arraigned him for a capital +offence, they imposed on him, when found guilty, a fine of only two +thousand asses. This proved fatal to him. They say that he could not +brook disgrace and anguish of mind: and that, in consequence, he was +carried off by disease. Another senator, Spurius Servilius was soon +after arraigned, as soon as he went out of office a day of trial +having been appointed for him by the tribunes, Lucius Caedicius and +Titus Statius, immediately at the beginning of the year, in the +consulship of Gaius Nautius and Publius Valerius: he did not, however, +like Menenius, meet the attacks of the tribunes with supplications on +the part of himself and the patricians, but with firm reliance on his +own integrity and his personal popularity. The battle with the Tuscans +at the Janiculum was also the charge brought against him: but being +a man of impetuous spirit, as he had formerly done in time of public +peril, so now in the danger which threatened himself, he dispelled +it by boldly meeting it, by confuting not only the tribunes but the +commons also, in a haughty speech, and upbraiding them with the +condemnation and death of Titus Menenius, by the good offices of whose +father the commons had formerly been re-established, and now had those +magistrates and enjoyed those laws, by virtue of which they then acted +so insolently: his colleague Verginius also, who was brought forward +as a witness, aided him by assigning to him a share of his own glory: +however--so had they changed their mind--the condemnation of Menenius +was of greater service to him. + +The contests at home were now concluded. A war against the Veientines, +with whom the Sabines had united their forces, broke out afresh. The +consul Publius Valerius, after auxiliaries had been sent for from +the Latins and Hernicans, being despatched to Veii with an army, +immediately attacked the Sabine camp, which had been pitched before +the walls of their allies, and occasioned such great consternation +that, while scattered in different directions, they sallied forth in +small parties to repel the assault of the enemy, the gate which he +first atacked was taken: then within the rampart a massacre rather +than a battle took place. From within the camp the alarm spread also +into the city; the Veientines ran to arms in as great a panic as if +Veii had been taken: some came up to the support of the Sabines, +others fell upon the Romans, who had directed all their force against +the camp. For a little while they were disconcerted and thrown into +confusion; then they in like manner formed two fronts and made a +stand: and the cavalry, being commanded by the consul to charge, +routed the Tuscans and put them to flight; and in the self-same +hour two armies and two of the most influential and powerful of the +neighbouring states were vanquished. While these events were taking +place at Veii, the Volscians and Æquans had pitched their camp in +Latin territory, and laid waste their frontiers. The Latins, being +joined by the Hernicans, without either a Roman general or Roman +auxiliaries, by their own efforts, stripped them of their camp. +Besides recovering their own effects, they obtained immense booty. The +consul Gaius Nautius, however, was sent against the Volscians from +Rome. The custom, I suppose, was not approved of, that the allies +should carry on wars with their own forces and according to their own +plans without a Roman general and troops. There was no kind of injury +and petty annoyance that was not practised against the Volscians; they +could not, however, be prevailed on to come to an engagement in the +field. + +Lucius Furius and Gaius Manlius were the next consuls. The Veientines +fell to Manlius as his province. No war, however, followed: a truce +for forty years was granted them at their request, but they were +ordered to provide corn and pay for the soldiers. Disturbance at home +immediately followed in close succession on peace abroad: the commons +were goaded by the spur employed by the tribunes in the shape of the +agrarian law. The consuls, no whit intimidated by the condemnation of +Menenius, nor by the danger of Servilius, resisted with their utmost +might; Gnæus Genucius, a tribune of the people, dragged the consuls +before the court on their going out of office. Lucius Æmilius and +Opiter Verginius entered upon the consulate. Instead of Verginius I +find Vopiscus Julius given as consul in some annals. In this year +(whoever were the consuls) Furius and Manlius, being summoned to trial +before the people, in sordid garb solicited the aid of the younger +patricians as much as that of the commons: they advised, they +cautioned them to keep themselves from public offices and the +administration of public affairs, and indeed to consider the consular +fasces, the toga prætexta and curule chair, as nothing else but a +funeral parade: that when decked with these splendid insignia, as with +fillets, [70] they were doomed to death. But if the charms of the +consulate were so great they should even now rest satisfied that the +consulate was held in captivity and crushed by the tribunician power; +that everything had to be done by the consul, at the beck and command +of the tribune, as if he were a tribune's beadle. If he stirred, if he +regarded the patricians at all, if he thought that there existed any +other party in the state but the commons, let him set before his +eyes the banishment of Gnæeus Marcius, the condemnation and death of +Menenius. Fired by these words, the patricians from that time held +their consultations not in public, but in private houses, and remote +from the knowledge of the majority, at which, when this one point only +was agreed on, that the accused must be rescued either by fair means +or foul, the most desperate proposals were most approved; nor did any +deed, however daring, lack a supporter.[71] Accordingly, on the day of +trial, when the people stood in the forum on tiptoe of expectation, +they at first began to feel surprised that the tribune did not come +down; then, the delay now becoming more suspicious, they believed that +he was hindered by the nobles, and complained that the public cause +was abandoned and betrayed. At length those who had been waiting +before the entrance of the tribune's residence announced that he +had been found dead in his house. As soon as rumour spread the news +through the whole assembly, just as an army disperses on the fall +of its general, so did they scatter in different directions. Panic +chiefly seized the tribunes, now taught by their colleague's death how +utterly ineffectual was the aid the devoting laws afforded them.[72] +Nor did the patricians display their exultation with due moderation; +and so far was any of them from feeling compunction at the guilty act, +that even those who were innocent wished to be considered to have +perpetrated it, and it was openly declared that the tribunician power +ought to be subdued by chastisement. + +Immediately after this victory, that involved a most ruinous +precedent, a levy was proclaimed; and, the tribunes being now +overawed, the consuls accomplished their object without any +opposition. Then indeed the commons became enraged more at the +inactivity of the tribunes than at the authority of the consuls: they +declared there was an end of their liberty: that things had returned +to their old condition: that the tribunician power had died along with +Genucius and was buried with him; that other means must be devised and +adopted, by which the patricians might be resisted: and that the only +means to that end was for the people to defend themselves, since they +had no other help: that four-and-twenty lictors waited on the consuls, +and they men of the common people: that nothing could be more +despicable, or weaker, if only there were persons to despise them; +that each person magnified those things and made them objects of +terror to himself. When they had excited one another by these words, +a lictor was despatched by the consuls to Volero Publilius, a man +belonging to the commons, because he declared that, having been a +centurion, he ought not to be made a common soldier. Volero appealed +to the tribunes. When no one came to his assistance, the consuls +ordered the man to be stripped and the rods to be got ready. "I appeal +to the people," said Volero, "since the tribunes prefer to see a Roman +citizen scourged before their eyes, than themselves to be butchered +by you each in his bed." The more vehemently he cried out, the more +violently did the lictor tear off his clothes and strip him. Then +Volero, being both himself a man of great bodily strength, and aided +by his partisans, having thrust back the lictor, retired into the +thickest part of the crowd, where the outcry of those who expressed +their indignation was loudest, crying out: "I appeal, and implore the +protection of the commons; assist me, fellow-citizens: assist me, +fellow-soldiers: it is no use to wait for the tribunes, who themselves +stand in need of your aid." The men, excited, made ready as if for +battle: and it was clear that a general crisis was at hand, that no +one would have respect for anything, either public or private right. +When the consuls had faced this violent storm, they soon found out +that authority unsupported by strength had but little security; the +lictors being maltreated, and the fasces broken, they were driven from +the forum into the senate-house, uncertain how far Volero would follow +up his victory. After that, the disturbance subsiding, having ordered +the members to be summoned to the senate, they complained of the +insults offered to themselves, of the violence of the people, of +the daring conduct of Volero. After many violent measures had been +proposed, the older members prevailed, who did not approve of the +rash behaviour of the commons being met by the resentment of the +patricians. + +The commons having warmly espoused the cause of Volero, at the next +meeting, secured his election as tribune of the people for that +year, in which Lucius Pinarius and Publics Furius were consuls: and, +contrary to the opinion of all, who thought that he would make free +use of his tribuneship to harass the consuls of the preceding year, +postponing private resentment to the public interest, without the +consuls being attacked even by a single word, he brought a bill before +the people that plebeian magistrates should be elected at the comitia +tributa.[73] A measure of no small importance was now proposed, under +an aspect at first sight by no means alarming; but one of such a +nature that it really deprived the patricians of all power of electing +whatever tribunes they pleased by the suffrage of their clients. The +patricians resisted to the utmost this proposal, which met with the +greatest approval of the commons: and though none of the college[74] +could be induced by the influence either of the consuls or of the +chief members of the senate to enter a protest against it, which was +the only means of effectual resistance, yet the matter, a weighty one +from its own importance, was spun out by party struggles for a +whole year. The commons re-elected Volero as tribune. The senators, +considering that the matter would end in a desperate struggle, elected +as Consul Appius Claudius, the son of Appius, who was both hated by +and had hated the commons, ever since the contests between them and +his father. Titus Quinctius was assigned to him as his colleague. +Immediately, at the beginning of the year,[75]no other question took +precedence of that regarding the law. But like Volero, the originator +of it, so his colleague, Lætorius, was both a more recent, as well as +a more energetic, supporter of it. His great renown in war made him +overbearing, because, in the age in which he lived, no one was more +prompt in action. He, while Volero confined himself to the discussion +of the law, avoiding all abuse of the consuls, broke out into +accusations against Appius and his family, as having ever been most +overbearing and cruel toward the Roman commons, contending that he had +been elected by the senators, not as consul, but as executioner, to +harass and torture the people: his tongue, unskilled in speech, as was +natural in a soldier, was unable to give adequate expression to the +freedom of his sentiments. When, therefore, language failed him, he +said: "Romans, since I do not speak with as much readiness as I make +good what I have spoken, attend here to-morrow. I will either die +before your eyes, or will carry the law." On the following day the +tribunes took possession of the platform: the consuls and the nobles +took their places together in the assembly to obstruct the law. +Lætorius ordered all persons to be removed, except those going to +vote. The young nobles kept their places, paying no regard to the +officer; then Lætorius ordered some of them to be seized. The consul +Appius insisted that the tribune had no jurisdiction over any one +except a plebeian; for that he was not a magistrate of the people in +general, but only of the commons; and that even he himself could not, +according to the usage of their ancestors, by virtue of his authority +remove any person, because the words were as follows: "If ye think +proper, depart, Quirites." He was easily able to disconcert Lætorius +by discussing his right thus contemptuously. The tribune, therefore, +burning with rage, sent his officer to the consul; the consul sent his +lictor to the tribune, exclaiming that he was a private individual, +without military office and without civil authority: and the tribune +would have been roughly handled, had not both the entire assembly +risen up with great warmth in behalf of the tribune against the +consul, and a crowd of people belonging to the excited multitude, +rushed from all parts of the city into the forum. Appius, however, +withstood this great storm with obstinacy, and the contest would have +ended in a battle, not without bloodshed, had not Quinctius, the other +consul, having intrusted the men of consular rank with the task of +removing his colleague from the forum by force, if they could not +do so in any other way, himself now assuaged the raging people by +entreaties, now implored the tribunes to dismiss the assembly. Let +them, said he, give their passion time to cool: delay would not in +any respect deprive them of their power, but would add prudence to +strength; and the senators would be under the control of the people, +and the consul under that of the senators. + +The people were with difficulty pacified by Quinctius; the other +consul with much more difficulty by the patricians. The assembly of +the people having been at length dismissed, the consuls convened the +senate; in which, though fear and resentment by turns had produced a +diversity of opinions, the more their minds were called off, by lapse +of time, from passion to reflection, the more adverse did they become +to contentiousness, so that they returned thanks to Quinctius, because +it was owing to his exertions that the disturbance had been quieted. +Appius was requested to give his consent that the consular dignity +should be merely so great as it could be in a state if it was to be +united: it was declared that, as long as the tribunes and consuls +claimed all power, each for his own side, no strength was left +between: that the commonwealth was distracted and torn asunder: that +the object aimed at was rather to whom it should belong, than that +it should be safe. Appius, on the contrary, called gods and men to +witness that the commonwealth was being betrayed and abandoned through +cowardice; that it was not the consul who had failed to support the +senate, but the senate the consul: that more oppressive conditions +were now being submitted to than had been submitted to on the Sacred +Mount. Overcome, however, by the unanimous feeling of the senators, he +desisted: the law was carried without opposition. + +Then for the first time the tribunes were elected in the comita +tributa. Piso is the authority for the statement that three were added +to the number, as if there had been only two before. He also gives +the names of the tribunes, Gnæus Siccius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus +Duellius, Spurius Icilius, Lucius Mecilius. During the disturbance +at Rome, a war broke out with the Volscians and Æquans, who had laid +waste the country, so that, if any secession of the people took place, +they might find a refuge with them. Afterward, when matters were +settled, they moved back their camp. Appius Claudius was sent against +the Volscians; the Æquans fell to Quinctius as his province. Appius +exhibited the same severity in war as at home, only more unrestrained, +because it was free from the control of the tribunes. He hated the +commons with a hatred greater than that inherited from his father: he +had been defeated by them: when he had been chosen consul as the only +man able to oppose the influence of the tribunes, a law had been +passed, which former consuls had obstructed with less effect, amid +hopes of the senators by no means so great as those now placed in him. +His resentment and indignation at this stirred his imperious temper to +harass the army by the severity of his command; it could not, however, +be subdued by any exercise of authority, with such a spirit of +opposition were the soldiers filled. They carried out all orders +slowly, indolently, carelessly, and stubbornly: neither shame nor +fear restrained them. If he wished the march to be accelerated, they +designedly went more slowly: if he came up to them to encourage them +in their work, they all relaxed the energy which they had before +exerted of their own accord: they cast down their eyes in his +presence, they silently cursed him as he passed by; so that that +spirit, unconquered by plebeian hatred, was sometimes moved. Every +kind of severity having been tried without effect, he no longer held +any intercourse with the soldiers; he said the army was corrupted by +the centurions; he sometimes gibingly called them tribunes of the +people and Voleros. + +None of these circumstances were unknown to the Volscians, and they +pressed on with so much the more vigour, hoping that the Roman +soldiers would entertain the same spirit of opposition against Appius +as they had formerly exhibited against the consul Fabius. However, +they showed themselves still more embittered against Appius than +against Fabius. For they were not only unwilling to conquer, like the +army of Fabius, but even wished to be conquered. When led forth into +the field, they made for their camp in ignominious flight, and did +not stand their ground until they saw the Volscians advancing against +their fortifications, and the dreadful havoc in the rear of their +army. Then they were compelled to put forth their strength for battle, +in order that the now victorious enemy might be dislodged from their +lines; while, however, it was sufficiently clear that the Roman +soldiers were only unwilling that the camp should be taken, in regard +to all else they gloried in their own defeat and disgrace. When the +haughty spirit of Appius, in no wise broken by this behaviour of the +soldiers, purposed to act with still greater severity, and summoned a +meeting, the lieutenants and tribunes flocked around him, recommending +him by no means to decide to put his authority to the proof, the +entire strength of which lay in unanimous obedience, saying that the +soldiers generally refused to come to the assembly, and that their +voices were heard on all sides, demanding that the camp should be +removed from the Volscian territory: that the victorious enemy were +but a little time ago almost at the very gates and rampart, and that +not merely a suspicion but the visible form of a grievous disaster +presented itself to their eyes. Yielding at last--since they gained +nothing save a respite from punishment--having prorogued the assembly, +and given orders that their march should be proclaimed for the +following day, at daybreak he gave the signal for departure by sound +of trumpet. At the very moment when the army, having got clear of the +camp, was forming itself, the Volscians, as if they had been aroused +by the same signal, fell upon those in the rear: from these the alarm +spreading to the van, threw both the battalions and companies into +such a state of consternation, that neither could the general's +orders be distinctly heard, nor the lines drawn up. No one thought +of anything but flight. In such loose order did they make their way +through heaps of dead bodies and arms, that the enemy ceased their +pursuit sooner than the Romans their flight. The soldiers having at +length rallied from their disordered flight, the consul, after he had +in vain followed his men, bidding them return, pitched his camp in a +peaceful part of the country; and having convened an assembly, after +inveighing not without good reason against the army, as traitors to +military discipline, deserters of their posts, asking them, one by one +where were their standards, where their arms, he first beat with rods +and then beheaded those soldiers who had thrown down their arms, +the standard-bearers who had lost their standards, and also the +centurions, and those who received double allowance,[76] who had +deserted their ranks. With respect to the rest of the rank and file, +every tenth man was drawn by lot for punishment. + +On the other hand, the consul and soldiers among the Æquans vied with +each other in courtesy and acts of kindness: Quinctius was naturally +milder in disposition, and the ill-fated severity of his colleague had +caused him to give freer vent to his own good temper. This remarkable +agreement between the general and his army the Æquans did not venture +to meet, but suffered the enemy to go through their country committing +devastations in every direction. Nor were depredations committed more +extensively in that quarter in any preceding war. The whole of the +booty was given to the soldiers. In addition, they received praise, in +which the minds of soldiers find no less pleasure than in rewards. The +army returned more reconciled both to their general, and also, thanks +to the general, to the patricians, declaring that a parent had been +given to them, a tyrant to the other army by the senate. The year +which had passed with varied success in war, and violent dissensions +at home and abroad, was rendered memorable chiefly by the elections +of tribes, a matter which was more important from the victory in the +contest[77] that was undertaken than from any real advantage; for more +dignity was withdrawn from the elections themselves by the fact that +the patricians were excluded from the council, than influence either +added to the commons or taken from the patricians.[78] + +A still more stormy year followed, when Lucius Valerius and Titus +Æmilius were consuls, both by reason of the struggles between the +different orders concerning the agrarian law, as well as on account +of the trial of Appius Claudius, for whom Marcus Duilius and Gnæus +Siccius appointed a day of trial, as a most active opposer of the law, +and one who supported the cause of the possessors of the public land, +as if he were a third consul [79]. Never before was an accused +person so hateful to the commons brought to trial before the people, +overwhelmed with their resentment against himself and also against his +father. The patricians too seldom made equal exertions so readily on +one's behalf: they declared that the champion of the senate, and the +upholder of their dignity, set up as a barrier against all the storms +of the tribunes and commons, was exposed to the resentment of the +commons, although he had only exceeded the bounds of moderation in the +contest. Appius Claudius himself was the only one of the patricians +who made light both of the tribunes and commons and his own trial. +Neither the threats of the commons, nor the entreaties of the senate, +could ever persuade him even to change his garb, or accost persons +as a suppliant, or even to soften or moderate his usual harshness of +speech in the least degree, when his cause was to be pleaded before +the people. The expression of his countenance was the same; the same +stubbornness in his looks, the same spirit of pride in his language: +so that a great part of the commons felt no less awe of Appius when on +his trial than they had felt for him when consul. He pleaded his cause +only once, and in the same haughty style of an accuser which he had +been accustomed to adopt on all occasions: and he so astounded both +the tribunes and the commons by his intrepidity, that, of their own +accord, they postponed the day of trial, and then allowed the matter +to die out. No long interval elapsed: before, however, the appointed +day came, he died of some disease; and when the tribunes of the people +endeavoured to put a stop to his funeral panegyric, the commons would +not allow the burial day of so great a man to be defrauded of the +customary honours: and they listened to his eulogy when dead as +patiently as they had listened to the charges brought against him when +living, and attended his obsequies in vast numbers. + +In the same year the consul Valerius, having marched with an army +against the Aequans, and being unable to draw out the enemy to an +engagement, proceeded to attack their camp. A dreadful storm coming +down from heaven accompanied by thunder and hail prevented him. Then, +on a signal for a retreat being given, their surprise was excited +by the return of such fair weather, that they felt scruples about +attacking a second time a camp which was defended as it were by some +divine power: all the violence of the war was directed to plundering +the country. The other consul, Aemilius, conducted the war in Sabine +territory. There also, because the enemy confined themselves within +their walls, the lands were laid waste. Then the Sabines, roused by +the burning not only of the farms, but of the villages also, which +were thickly inhabited, after they had fallen in with the raiders +retired from an engagement the issue of which was left undecided, and +on the following day removed their camp into a safer situation. This +seemed a sufficient reason to the consul why he should leave the +enemy as conquered, and depart thence, although the war was as yet +unfinished. + +During these wars, while dissensions still continued at home, Titus +Numicius Priscus and Aulus Verginius were elected consuls. The commons +appeared determined no longer to brook the delay in accepting the +agrarian law, and extreme violence was on the point of being resorted +to, when it became known by the smoke from the burning farms and +the flight of the peasants that the Volscians were at hand; this +circumstance checked the sedition that was now ripe and on the point +of breaking out. The consuls, under the immediate compulsion of the +senate, led forth the youth from the city to war, and thereby rendered +the rest of the commons more quiet. And the enemy indeed, having +merely filled the Romans with fear that proved groundless, departed +in great haste. Numicius marched to Antium against the Volscians, +Verginius against the Aequans. There, after they had nearly met with +a great disaster in an attack from an ambuscade, the bravery of the +soldiers restored their fortunes, which had been endangered through +the carelessness of the consul. Affairs were conducted better in the +case of the Volscians. The enemy were routed in the first engagement, +and driven in flight into the city of Antium, a very wealthy place, +considering the times: the consul, not venturing to attack it, took +from the people of Antium another town, Caeno,[80] which was by no +means so wealthy While the Aequans and Volscians engaged the attention +of the Roman armies, the Sabines advanced in their depredations even +to the gates of the city: then they themselves, a few days later, +sustained from the two armies heavier losses than they had inflicted, +both the consuls having entered their territories under the influence +of exasperation. + +At the close of the year to some extent there was peace, but, as +frequently at other times, a peace disturbed by contests between the +patricians and commons. The exasperated commons refused to attend the +consular elections: Titus Quinctius and Quintus Servilius were elected +consuls through the influence of the patricians and their dependents: +the consuls had a year similar to the preceding, disturbed at the +beginning, and afterward tranquil by reason of war abroad. The Sabines +crossing the plains of Crustumerium by forced marches, after carrying +fire and sword along the banks of the Anio, being repulsed when they +had nearly come up to the Colline gate and the walls, drove off, +however, great booty of men and cattle: the consul Servilius, having +pursued them with an army bent on attacking them, was unable to +overtake the main body itself in the level country: he, however, +extended his devastations over such a wide area, that he left nothing +unmolested by war, and returned after having obtained booty many times +greater than that carried off by the enemy. The public cause was also +extremely well supported among the Volscians by the exertions both of +the general and the soldiers. First a pitched battle was fought, on +level ground, with great slaughter and much bloodshed on both sides: +and the Romans, because their small numbers caused their loss to be +more keenly felt, would have given way, had not the consul, by a +well-timed fiction, reanimated the army, by crying out that the enemy +was in flight on the other wing; having charged, they, by believing +themselves victorious, became so. The consul, fearing lest, by +pressing on too far, he might renew the contest, gave the signal for +retreat. A few days intervened, both sides resting as if by tacit +suspension of hostilities: during these days a vast number of persons +from all the states of the Volscians and Equans came to the camp, +feeling no doubt that the Romans would depart during the night, if +they perceived them. Accordingly, about the third watch [81], they +came to attack the camp. Quinctius having allayed the confusion which +the sudden panic had occasioned, and ordered the soldiers to remain +quiet in their tents, led out a cohort of the Hernicans for an advance +guard: the trumpeters and horn blowers he mounted on horseback, and +commanded them to sound their trumpets before the rampart, and to keep +the enemy in suspense till daylight: during the rest of the night +everything was so quiet in the camp, that the Romans had even the +opportunity of sleeping.[82] The sight of the armed infantry, whom +they both considered to be more numerous than they were, and at the +same time Romans, the bustle and neighing of the horses, which became +restless, both from the fact of strange riders being mounted on them, +and moreover from the sound of the trumpets frightening them, kept the +Volscians intently awaiting an attack of the enemy. + +When the day dawned, the Romans, invigorated and having enjoyed a full +sleep, on being marched out to battle, at the first onset caused the +Volscians to give way, wearied as they were from standing and keeping +watch: though indeed the enemy rather retired than were routed, +because in the rear there were hills to which the unbroken ranks +behind the first line had a safe retreat. The consul, when he came to +the uneven ground, halted his army; the infantry were kept back +with difficulty; they loudly demanded to be allowed to pursue the +discomfited foe. The cavalry were more violent: crowding round the +general, they cried out that they would proceed in front of the first +line. While the consul hesitated, relying on the valour of his men, +yet having little confidence in the nature of the ground, they all +cried out that they would proceed; and execution followed the shout. +Fixing their spears in the ground, in order that they might be lighter +to mount the heights, they advanced uphill at a run. The Volscians, +having discharged their missile weapons at the first onset, hurled +down the stones that lay at their feet upon the Romans as they +were making their way up, and having thrown them into confusion by +incessant blows, strove to drive them from the higher ground: thus +the left wing of the Romans was nearly overborne, had not the consul +dispelled their fear by rousing them to a sense of shame as they were +on the point of retreating, chiding at the same time their temerity +and their cowardice. At first they stood their ground with determined +firmness; then, as they recovered their strength by still holding +their position, they ventured to advance of themselves, and, renewing +their shouts, they encouraged the whole body to advance: then having +made a fresh attack, they forced their way up and surmounted the +unfavourable ground. They were now on the point of gaining the summit +of the hill, when the enemy turned their backs, and pursued and +pursuer at full speed rushed into the camp almost in one body. During +this panic the camp was taken; such of the Volscians as were able to +make good their escape, made for Antium. The Roman army also was +led thither; after having been invested for a few days, the town +surrendered, not in consequence of any new efforts on the part of the +besiegers, but because the spirits of the inhabitants had sunk ever +since the unsuccessful battle and the loss of their camp. + + +[Footnote 1: The functions of the old priest-king were divided, the +political being assigned to the consuls, the duty of sacrificing +to the newly-created rex sacrificulus, who was chosen from the +patricians: he was, nevertheless, subject to the control of the +Pontifex Maximus, by whom he was chosen from several nominees of the +college of priests.] + +[Footnote 2: This, of course applied only to patricians. Plebians were +accounted nobodies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 3: The insula Tiberina between Rome and the Janiculum.] + +[Footnote 4: Vindicta was properly the rod which was laid on the head +of a slave by the magistrate who emancipated him, or by one of his +attendants: the word is supposed to be derived from vim dicere +(to declare authority).] + +[Footnote 5: Near the Janiculum, between the Via Aurelia and the Via +Claudia.] + +[Footnote 6: A part of the Palatine.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The goddess of victory [vi(n)co-pot(is)].] + +[Footnote 8: Practically a sentence of combined excommunication and +outlawry.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 9: Now Chiusi.] + +[Footnote 10: They did not let these salt-works by auction, but took +them under their own management, and carried them on by means +of persons employed to work on the public account. These +salt-works, first established at Ostia by Ancus, were, like other +public property, farmed out to the publicans. As they had a high +rent to pay, the price of salt was raised in proportion; but now the +patricians, to curry favour with the plebeians, did not let the salt-pits +to private tenants, but kept them in the hands of public labourers, to +collect all the salt for the public use; and appointed salesmen to +retail it to the people at a cheaper rate.] + +[Footnote 11: Just below the sole remaining pillar of the Pons +Aemilius.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," has made +this incident the basis of one of the most stirring poems in the +English language. Though familiar to all, it does not seem out of +place to quote from his "Horatius" in connection with the story as +told by Livy: + + "Alone stood brave Horatius, + But constant still in mind; + Thrice thirty thousand foes before + And the broad flood behind. + 'Down with him!' cried false Sextus, + With smile on his pale face. + 'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena, + 'Now yield thee to our grace.' + + * * * * * + + 'O Tiber! father Tiber! + To whom the Romans pray, + A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, + Take thou in charge this day!' + So he spake, and speaking, sheathed + The good sword by his side, + And with his harness on his back + Plunged headlong in the tide. + + No sound of joy or sorrow + Was heard from either bank, + But friends and foes, in dumb surprise, + With parted lips and straining eyes, + Stood gazing where he sank; + And when above the surges + They saw his crest appear, + All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, + And even the ranks of Tuscany + Could scarce forbear to cheer. + + But fiercely ran the current, + Swollen high by months of rain; + And fast his blood was flowing, + And he was sore in pain, + And heavy with his armour, + And spent with changing blows; + And oft they thought him sinking, + But still again he rose. + + * * * * * + + 'Curse on him!' quoth false Sextus, + 'Will not the villain drown? + But for this stay, ere close of day, + We should have sacked the town!' + 'Heaven help him!' quoth Lars Porsena + 'And bring him safe to shore; + For such a gallant feat of arms + Was never seen before.' + + And now he feels the bottom; + Now on dry earth he stands; + Now round him throng the fathers + To press his gory hands; + And now with shouts and clapping, + And noise of weeping loud, + He enters through the River-gate + Borne by the joyous crowd. + + * * * * * + + When the goodman mends his armour, + And trims his helmet's plume; + When the good wife's shuttle merrily + Goes flashing through the loom; + With weeping and with laughter + Still is the story told, + How well Horatius kept the bridge + In the brave days of old." ] + +[Footnote 13: Of the left hand.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: Probably where the Cliva Capitolina begins to ascend the +slope of the Capitol.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 15: The most ancient of the Greek colonies in Italy. Its +ruins are on the coast north of the Promontory of Miseno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: Leading from the forum to the Velabrum.] + +[Footnote 17: It was situated in the Alban Hills about ten miles from +Rome, on the site of the modern Frascati.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Suessa-Pometia, mentioned in former note. Cora is now +Cori.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Their home was in Campania.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: Wooden roofs covered with earth or wet hides, and rolled +forward on wheels for the protection of those engaged in battering or +mining the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, the Romans'.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps because the twenty-four axes of both consuls +went to the dictator.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: Now Palestrina] + +[Footnote 24: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome": The Battle of +Lake Regillus.] + +[Footnote 25: The bound (by the law of debt), from nexo, to join or +connect.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 26: That is, for allowing themselves to suffer it and yet +fight for their oppressors.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 27: For military service.] + +[Footnote:28 Known as Mercuriales. Mercury was the patron of +merchants.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: That is, over the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: About 40,000 men.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: That is, like Vetusius, watching the Aequans, who +uncrippled were lying in their mountain fastnesses in northern Latium, +waiting a chance to renew their ravages.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Modern Velletri.] + +[Footnote 33: a chair-shaped X .Its use was an insignia first of +royalty, then of the higher magistracies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Supposed to be the hill beyond and to the right of the +Ponte Nomentano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucius Calpurnius Piso, the historian.] + +[Footnote 36: This fable is of very great antiquity. Max Müller says +it is found among the Hindus.] + +[Footnote 37: The law which declared the persons of the tribunes +inviolate and him who transgressed it accursed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: Modern Anzio, south of Ostia on the coast of +Latium.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: Between Ardea and Aricia.] + +[Footnote 40: The sixth part of the as, the Roman money unit, which +represented a pound's weight of copper.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 41: Its ruins lie on the road to Terracina, near Norma, and +about forty-five miles from Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: The clientes formed a distinct class; they were the +hereditary dependents of certain patrician families (their patroni) to +whom they were under various obligations; they naturally sided with +the patricians.] + +[Footnote 43: Dionysius and Plutarch give an account of the +prosecution much more favourable to the defendant.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 44: Celebrated annually in the Circus Maximus, September 4th +to 12th, in honour of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, or, according to +some authorities, of Consus and Neptunus Equestus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: A >-shaped yoke placed on the slave's neck, with his +hands tied to the ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 46: In a grove at the foot of the Alban Hill.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: There seems to be something wrong here, as Satricum, +etc., were situated west of the Via Appia, while Livy places them on +the Via Latina. Niebuhr thinks that the words "passing across ... +Latin way," should be transposed, and inserted after the words "he +then took in succession." For the position of these towns, see Map.] + +[Footnote 48: Quintus Fabius Pictor, the historian.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: The ager publicus consisted of the landed estates which +had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land taken from +enemies who had been conquered in war. The patricians, having the +chief political power, gained exclusive occupation (possessio) of this +ager publicus, for which they paid a nominal rent in the shape of +produce and tithes. The nature of the charge brought by Cassius was +not the fact of its being occupied by privati, but by patricians to +the exclusion of plebeians.] + +[Footnote 50: "Quaestors," this is the first mention of these officers +in Livy; in early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those who were guilty of treason, and to carry out the +punishment.] + +[Footnote 51: On the west slope of the Esquiline.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: There seems to be something wrong in the text here, as +the subterfuge was distinctively a patrician one, and the commons had +nothing to gain and all to lose by it. If Livy means that the commons +provoked war by giving cause for the patricians to seek refuge in it, +he certainly puts it very vaguely.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 53: July 15th.] + +[Footnote 54: By being buried alive. The idea being that the +ceremonies could not be duly performed by an unchaste vestal.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 55: By his power of veto.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: These were veterans and formed the third line. The first +were the "hastati," so called from their carrying long spears, +which were later discarded for heavy javelins. The second were the +"principes," the main line.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: The space assigned for the general's tent.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: The legati of a general were at once his council of war +and his staff.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 59: There is much in the description of this battle not easy +to understand, and I am inclined to believe it was at least no better +than drawn. The plundered camp, the defeat of the triarii, and +the failure to mention pursuit or consequences, all favour this +supposition.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 60: It was to be victory or annihilation.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 61: so called from the altar of Carmenta, which stood near +it. It was located in or near what is now the Piazza Montanara, and +was always after considered a gate of evil omen.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: Now the Valchetta.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 63: Probably of mercenaries, as the Veientines are alluded +to throughout the paragraph as commanding, and it was apparently not a +case of alliance.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 64: On the Via Flaminia (near the grotta rossa).] + +[Footnote 65: This story has been much questioned by learned +commentators. I see nothing improbable in it if we pare down the +exploits a little, and the evidence, such as it is all pro.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: As this temple was about a mile from the city, it is +probable the Romans were defeated and that the second fight at the +gate means simply that they repulsed an assault on the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: That is, did not renew their assault on the +walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: Evidently only a small detatchment, since they were +in condition to assault a fortified consular camp despite their +defeat.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: The story of this war is much more doubtful than the +exploit of the Fabii, and Livy, as usual, furnishes the material for +his own criticism.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: After the manner of animals about to be +sacrificed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: This was probably the origin of the "clubs" of young +patricians, to which so much of the later violance was due.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 72: The lex sacrata, which declared their persons +inviolate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 73: The assembly of the plebeians by tribes.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 74: Of tribunes.] + +[Footnote 75: The consular year.] + +[Footnote 76: One of the rewards of good conduct was double +rations.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 77: That is, the contest to obtain the reform.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 78: While the plebeians lost the dignity conferred on the +assembly by the presence of distinguished patricians, they gained +nothing, as, in the mere matter of votes, they already had a majority; +and the patricians lost nothing, as the number of their votes would +not be sufficient to render them of much importance.] + +[Footnote 79: There were other specific charges, but Livy confines +himself to the spirit of the prosecution.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 80: The port of Antium, now Nettuno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 81: Midnight.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 82: The rendering of the rest of this section is vague and +unsatisfactory.--D. O.] + + + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE + +After the capture of Antium, Titus Æmilius and Quintus Fabius became +consuls. This was the Fabius who was the sole survivor of the family +that had been annihilated at the Cremera. Æmilius had already in his +former consulship recommended the bestowal of land on the people. +Accordingly, in his second consulship also, both the advocates of the +agrarian law encouraged themselves to hope for the passing of the +measure, and the tribunes took it up, thinking that a result, that +had been frequently attempted in opposition to the consuls, might be +obtained now that at any rate one consul supported it: the consul +remained firm in his opinion. The possessors of state land [1]--and +these a considerable part of the patricians--transferred the odium of +the entire affair from the tribunes to the consul, complaining that a +man, who held the first office in the state, was busying himself with +proposals more befitting the tribunes, and was gaining popularity by +making presents out of other people's property. A violent contest +was at hand; had not Fabius compromised the matter by a suggestion +disagreeable to neither party. That under the conduct and auspices of +Titus Quinctius a considerable tract of land had been taken in the +preceding year from the Volscians: that a colony might be sent to +Antium, a neighbouring and conveniently situated maritime city: in +this manner the commons would come in for lands without any complaints +on the part of the present occupiers, and the state remain at peace. +This proposition was accepted. He secured the appointment of Titus +Quinctius, Aulus Verginius, and Publius Furius as triumvirs for +distributing the land: such as wished to receive land were ordered to +give in their names. The attainment of their object created disgust +immediately, as usually happens, and so few gave in their names that +Volscian colonists were added to fill up the number: the rest of the +people preferred to ask for land in Rome, rather than to receive it +elsewhere. The Aequans sued for peace from Quintus Fabius (he had +gone thither with an army), and they themselves broke it by a sudden +incursion into Latin territory. + +In the following year Quintus Servilius (for he was consul with +Spurius Postumius), being sent against the Aequans, pitched his camp +permanently in Latin territory: unavoidable inaction held the army in +check, since it was attacked by illness. The war was protracted to the +third year, when Quintus Fabius and Titus Quinctius were consuls. To +Fabius, because he, as conqueror, had granted peace to the Aequans +that sphere of action was assigned in an unusual manner.[2]He, setting +out with a sure hope that his name and renown would reduce the Aequans +to submission, sent ambassadors to the council of the nation, and +ordered them to announce that Quintus Fabius, the consul, stated that +he had brought peace to Rome from the Aequans, that from Rome he now +brought them war, with that same right hand, but now armed, which he +had formerly given to them in amity; that the gods were now witnesses, +and would presently take vengeance on those by whose perfidy and +perjury that had come to pass. That he, however, be matters as they +might, even now preferred that the Aequans should repent of their own +accord rather than suffer the vengeance of an enemy. If they repented, +they would have a safe retreat in the clemency they had already +experienced; but if they still took pleasure in perjury, they would +wage war with the gods enraged against them rather than their enemies. +These words had so little effect on any of them that the ambassadors +were near being ill-treated, and an army was sent to Algidum[3] +against the Romans. When news of this was brought to Rome, the +indignity of the affair, rather than the danger, caused the other +consul to be summoned from the city; thus two consular armies advanced +against the enemy in order of battle, intending to come to an +engagement at once. But as it happened that not much of the day +remained, one of the advance guard of the enemy cried out: "This is +making a show of war, Romans, not waging it: you draw up your army +in line of battle, when night is at hand; we need a longer period of +daylight for the contest which is to come. Tomorrow at sunrise return +to the field: you shall have an opportunity of fighting, never fear." +The soldiers, stung by these taunts, were marched back into camp till +the following day, thinking that a long night was approaching, which +would cause the contest to be delayed. Then indeed they refreshed +their bodies with food and sleep: on the following day, when it was +light, the Roman army took up their position some considerable time +before. At length the Aequans also advanced. The battle was hotly +contested on both sides, because the Romans fought under the influence +of resentment and hatred, while the Aequans were compelled by a +consciousness of danger incurred by misconduct, and despair of any +confidence being reposed in them hereafter, to venture and to have +recourse to the most desperate efforts. The Aequans, however, did +not withstand the attack of the Roman troops, and when, having been +defeated, they had retired to their own territories, the savage +multitude, with feelings not at all more disposed to peace, began to +rebuke their leaders: that their fortunes had been intrusted to the +hazard of a pitched battle, in which mode of fighting the Romans were +superior. That the Aequans were better adapted for depredations and +incursions, and that several parties, acting in different directions, +conducted wars with greater success than the unwieldy mass of a single +army. + +Accordingly, having left a guard over the camp, they marched out and +attacked the Roman frontiers with such fury that they carried terror +even to the city: the fact that this was unexpected also caused +more alarm, because it was least of all to be feared that an enemy, +vanquished and almost besieged in their camp, should entertain +thoughts of depredation: and the peasants, rushing through the gates +in a state of panic, cried out that it was not a mere raid, nor +small parties of plunderers, but, exaggerating everything in their +groundless fear, whole armies and legions of the enemy that were close +at hand, and that they were hastening toward the city in hostile +array. Those who were nearest carried to others the reports heard from +these, reports vague and on that account more groundless: and the +hurry and clamour of those calling to arms bore no distant resemblance +to the panic that arises when a city has been taken by storm. It so +happened that the consul Quinctius had returned to Rome from Algidum: +this brought some relief to their terror; and, the tumult being +calmed, after chiding them for their dread of a vanquished enemy, he +set a guard on the gates. Then a meeting of the senate was summoned, +and a suspension of business proclaimed by their authority: he +himself, having set out to defend the frontiers, leaving behind +Quintus Servilius as prefect of the city, found no enemy in the +country. Affairs were conducted with distinguished success by the +other consul; who, having attacked the enemy, where he knew that they +would arrive, laden with booty, and therefore marching with their +army the more encumbered, caused their depredation to prove their +destruction. Few of the enemy escaped from the ambuscade; all the +booty was recovered. Thus the return of the consul Quinctius to the +city put an end to the suspension of business, which lasted four days. +A census[4] was then held, and the lustrum [Footnote: The ceremony of +purification took place every five years, hence "Justrum" came to be +used for a period of five years.] closed by Quinctius: the number of +citizens rated is said to have been one hundred and four thousand +seven hundred and fourteen, not counting orphans of both sexes. +Nothing memorable occurred afterward among the Æquans; they retired +into their towns, allowing their possessions to be consumed by +fire and devastated. The consul, after he had repeatedly carried +devastation with a hostile army through the whole of the enemy's +country, returned to Rome with great glory and booty. + +The next consuls were Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. +Furii is by some writers written Fusii; this I mention, to prevent any +one thinking that the change, which is only in the names, is in the +persons themselves. There was no doubt that one of the consuls was +about tobegin hostilities against the Æquans. The latter accordingly +sought help from the Volscians of Ecetra; this was readily granted +(so keenly did these states contend in inveterate hatred against the +Romans), and preparations for war were made with the utmost vigour. +The Hernicans came to hear of it, and warned the Romans that the +Ecetrans had revolted to the Æquans: the colony of Antium also was +suspected, because, after the town had been taken a great number of +the inhabitants had fled thence for refuge to the Æquans: and these +soldiers behaved with the very greatest bravery during the course of +the war. After the Æquans had been driven into the towns, when this +rabble returned to Antium, it alienated from the Romans the colonists +who were already of their own accord disposed to treachery. The matter +not yet being ripe, when it had been announced to the senate that a +revolt was intended, the consuls were charged to inquire what was +going on, the leading men of the colony being summoned to Rome. When +they had attended without reluctance, they were conducted before the +senate by the consuls, and gave such answers to the questions that +were put to them that they were dismissed more suspected than they had +come. + +After this, war was regarded as inevitable. Spurius Furius, one of +the consuls to whom that sphere of action had fallen, having marched +against the Aequans, found the enemy committing depredations in the +country of the Hernicans; and being ignorant of their numbers, because +they had nowhere been seen all together, he rashly hazarded an +engagement with an army which was no match for their forces. Being +driven from his position at the first onset, he retreated to his camp; +nor was that the end of his danger; for both on the next night and the +following day, his camp was beset and assaulted with such vigour that +not even a messenger could be despatched thence to Rome. The Hernicans +brought news both that an unsuccessful battle had been fought, and +that the consul and army were besieged; and inspired the senate with +such terror, that the other consul Postumius was charged to see to it +that the commonwealth took no harm,[5] a form of decree which has ever +been deemed to be one of extreme urgency. It seemed most advisable +that the consul himself should remain at Rome to enlist all such +as were able to bear arms: that Titus Quinctius should be sent as +proconsul[6] to the relief of the camp with the army of the allies: to +complete this army the Latins and Hernicans, and the colony of Antium +were ordered to supply Quinctius with troops hurriedly raised-such was +the name (subitarii) that they gave to auxiliaries raised for sudden +emergencies. + +During those days many manoeuvres and many attacks were carried out +on both sides, because the enemy, having the advantage in numbers, +attempted to harass the Roman forces by attacking them on many sides, +as not likely to prove sufficient to meet all attacks. While the camp +was being besieged, at the same time part of the army was sent to +devastate Roman territory, and to make an attempt upon the city +itself, should fortune favour. Lucius Valerius was left to guard the +city: the consul Postumius was sent to prevent the plundering of the +frontiers. There was no abatement in any quarter either of vigilance +or activity; watches were stationed in the city, outposts before the +gates, and guards along the walls: and a cessation of business +was observed for several days, as was necessary amid such general +confusion. In the meantime the consul Furius, after he had at first +passively endured the siege in his camp, sallied forth through the +main gate[7] against the enemy when off their guard; and though he +might have pursued them, he stopped through apprehension, that an +attack might be made on the camp from the other side. The lieutenant +Furius (he was also the consul's brother) was carried away too far +in pursuit: nor did he, in his eagerness to follow them up, observe +eitherhis own party returning, or the attack of the enemy on his rear: +being thus shut out, having repeatedly made many unavailing efforts to +force his way to the camp, he fell, fighting bravely. In like manner +the consul, turning about to renew the fight, on being informed that +his brother was surrounded, rushing into the thick of the fight rashly +rather than with sufficient caution, was wounded, and with difficulty +rescued by those around him. This both damped the courage of his own +men, and increased the boldness of the enemy; who, being encouraged +by the death of the lieutenant, and by the consul's wound, could not +afterward have been withstood by any force, as the Romans, having been +driven into their camp, were again being besieged, being a match for +them neither in hopes nor in strength, and the very existence of the +state would have been imperilled, had not Titus Quinctius come to +their relief with foreign troops, the Latin and Hernican army. He +attacked the Aequans on their rear while their attention was fixed on +the Roman camp, and while they were insultingly displaying the head of +the lieutenant: and, a sally being made at the same time from the camp +at a signal given by himself from a distance, he surrounded a large +force of the enemy. Of the Aequans in Roman territory the slaughter +was less, their flight more disorderly. As they straggled in different +directions, driving their plunder before them, Postumius attacked +them in several places, where he had posted bodies of troops in +advantageous positions. They, while straying about and pursuing their +flight in great disorder, fell in with the victorious Quinctius as he +was returning with the wounded consul. Then the consular army by its +distinguished bravery amply avenged the consul's wound, and the death +of the lieutenant and the slaughter of the cohorts; heavy losses were +both inflicted and received on both sides during those days. In a +matter of such antiquity it is difficult to state, so as to inspire +conviction, the exact number of those who fought or fell: Antias +Valerius, however, ventures to give an estimate of the numbers: that +in the Hernican territory there fell five thousand eight hundred +Romans; that of the predatory parties of the Aequans, who strayed +through the Roman frontiers for the purpose of plundering, two +thousand four hundred were slain by the consul Aulus Postumius; that +the rest of the body which fell in with Quinctius while driving its +booty before them, by no means got off with a loss equally small: of +these he asserts that four thousand, and by way of stating the number +exactly, two hundred and thirty were slain. After their return to +Rome, the cessation of business was abandoned. The sky seemed to be +all ablaze with fire; and other prodigies either actually presented +themselves before men's eyes, or exhibited imaginary appearances to +their affrighted minds. To avert these terrors, a solemn festival for +three days was proclaimed, during which all the shrines were filled +with a crowd of men and women, earnestly imploring the favour of the +gods. After this the Latin and Hernican cohorts were sent back to +their respective homes, after they had been thanked by the senate for +their spirited conduct in war. The thousand soldiers from Antium were +dismissed almost with disgrace, because they had come after the battle +too late to render assistance. + +The elections were then held: Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius +were elected consuls, and entered on their office on the calends of +August[8] according to the practice of beginning the year on that +date. It was an unhealthy season, and it so happened that the year [9] +was pestilential to the city and country, and not more to men than to +cattle; and they themselves increased the severity of the disease by +admitting the cattle and the peasants into the city in consequence of +their dread of devastation. This collection of animals of every kind +mingled together both distressed the inhabitants of the city by the +unusual stench, and also the peasants, crowded together into their +confined dwellings, by heat and want of sleep while their attendance +on each other, and actual contact helped to spread disease. While they +were hardly able to endure the calamities that pressed upon them, +ambassadors from the Hernicans suddenly brought word that the Aequans +and Volscians had united their forces, and pitched their camp in their +territory: that from thence they were devastating their frontiers with +an immense army. In addition to the fact that the small attendance of +the senate was a proof to the allies that the state was prostrated by +the pestilence, they further received this melancholy answer: That the +Hernicans, as well as the Latins, must now defend their possessions by +their own unaided exertions. That the city of Rome, through the sudden +anger of the gods, was ravaged by disease. If any relief from that +calamity should arise, that they would afford aid to their allies, +as they had done the year before, and always on other occasions. The +allies departed, carrying home, instead of the melancholy news they +had brought, news still more melancholy, seeing that they were now +obliged to sustain by their own resources a war, which they would have +with difficulty sustained even if backed by the power of Rome. The +enemy no longer confined themselves to the Hernican territory. They +proceeded thence with determined hostility into the Roman territories, +which were already devastated without the injuries of war. There, +without any one meeting them, not even an unarmed person, they +passed through entire tracts destitute not only of troops, but +even uncultivated, and reached the third milestone on the Gabinian +road.[10] Aebutius, the Roman consul, was dead: his colleague, +Servilius, was dragging out his life with slender hope of recovery; +most of the leading men, the chief part of the patricians, nearly all +those of military age, were stricken down with disease, so that they +not only had not sufficient strength for the expeditions, which amid +such an alarm the state of affairs required, but scarcely even for +quietly mounting guard. Those senators, whose age and health permitted +them, personally discharged the duty of sentinels. The patrol and +general supervision was assigned to the plebeian aediles: on them +devolved the chief conduct of affairs and the majesty of the consular +authority. + +The commonwealth thus desolate, since it was without a head, and +without strength, was saved by the guardian gods and good fortune of +the city, which inspired the Volscians and Æquans with the disposition +of freebooters rather than of enemies; for so far were their minds +from entertaining any hope not only of taking but even of approaching +the walls of Rome, and so thoroughly did the sight of the houses in +the distance, and the adjacent hills, divert their thoughts, that, on +a murmur arising throughout the entire camp--why should they waste +time in indolence without booty in a wild and desert land, amid the +pestilence engendered by cattle and human beings, when they could +repair to places as yet unattacked--the Tusculan territory abounding +in wealth? They suddenly pulled up their standards,[11] and, by +cross-country marches, passed through the Lavican territory to the +Tusculan hills: to that quarter the whole violence and storm of the +war was directed. In the meantime the Hernicans and Latins, influenced +not only by compassion but by a feeling of shame, if they neither +opposed the common enemy who were making for the city of Rome with +a hostile army, nor afforded any aid to their allies when besieged, +marched to Rome with united forces. Not finding the enemy there, they +followed their tracks in the direction they were reported to have +taken, and met them as they were coming down from Tusculan territory +into the Alban valley: there a battle was fought under circumstances +by no means equal; and their fidelity proved by no means favourable to +the allies for the time being. The havoc caused by pestilence at Rome +was not less than that caused by the sword among the allies: the only +surviving consul died, as well as other distinguished men, Marcus +Valerius, Titus Verginius Rutilus, augurs: Servius Sulpicius, chief +priest of the curies:[12] while among undistinguished persons the +virulence of the disease spread extensively: and the senate, destitute +of human aid, directed the people's attention to the gods and to vows: +they were ordered to go and offer supplications with their wives and +children, and to entreat the favour of Heaven. Besides the fact that +their own sufferings obliged each to do so, when summoned by public +authority, they filled all the shrines; the prostrate matrons in every +quarter sweeping the temples with their hair, begged for a remission +of the divine displeasure, and a termination to the pestilence. + +From this time, whether it was that the favour of the gods was +obtained, or that the more unhealthful season of the year was now +over, the bodily condition of the people, now rid of disease, +gradually began to be more healthy, and their attention being +now directed to public concerns, after the expiration of several +interregna, Publius Valerius Publicola, on the third day after he had +entered on his office of interrex,[13] procured the election of Lucius +Lucretius Tricipitinus, and Titus Veturius (or Vetusius) Geminus, to +the consulship. They entered on their consulship on the third day +before the ides of August,[14] the state being now strong enough +not only to repel a a hostile attack, but even to act itself on the +offensive. Therefore when the Hernicans announced that the enemy had +crossed over into their boundaries, assistance was readily promised: +two consular armies were enrolled. Veturius was sent against the +Volscians to carry on an offensive war. Tricipitinus, being posted to +protect the territory of the allies from devastation, proceeded no +further than into the countryof the Hernicans. Veturius routed and put +the enemy to flight in the first engagement. A party of plunderers, +led over the Praenestine Mountains, and from thence sent down into the +plains, was unobserved by Lucretius, while he lay encamped among the +Hernicans. These laid waste all the countryaround Praeneste and Gabii: +from the Gabinian territory they turned their course toward the +heights of Tusculum; great alarm was excited in the city of Rome also, +more from the suddenness of the affair than because there was not +sufficient strength to repel the attack. Quintus Fabius was in command +of the city; he, having armed the young men and posted guards, made +things secure and tranquil. The enemy, therefore, not venturing to +approach the city, when they were returning by a circuitous route, +carrying off plunder from the adjacent places, their caution being now +more relaxed, in proportion as they removed to a greater distance from +the enemy's city, fell in with the consul Lucretius, who had already +reconnoitred his lines of march, and whose army was drawn up in battle +array and resolved upon an engagement. Accordingly, having attacked +them with predetermined resolution, though with considerably inferior +forces, they routed and put to flight their numerous army, while +smitten with sudden panic, and having driven them into the deep +valleys, where means of egress were not easy, they surrounded them. +There the power of the Volscians was almost entirely annihilated. In +some annals, I find that thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy +fell in battle and in flight that one thousand seven hundred and fifty +were taken alive, that twenty-seven military standards were captured: +and although in accounts there may have been some exaggeration in +regard to numbers, undoubtedly great slaughter took place. The +victorious consul, having obtained immense booty, returned to his +former standing camp. Then the consuls joined camps. The Volscians and +Æquans also united their shattered strength. This was the third battle +in that year; the same good fortune gave them victory; the enemy was +routed, and their camp taken. + +Thus the affairs of Rome returned to their former condition; and +successes abroad immediately excited commotions in the city. Gaius +Terentilius Harsa was tribune of the people in that year: he, +considering that an opportunity was afforded for tribunician intrigues +during the absence of the consuls began, after railing against the +arrogance of the patricians for several days before the people, to +inveigh chiefly against the consular authority, as being excessive +and intolerable for a free state: for that in name only was it less +hateful, in reality it was almost more cruel than the authority of the +kings: that forsooth in place of one, two masters had been accepted, +with unbounded and unlimited power, who, themselves unrestrained and +unbridled, directed all the terrors of the law, and all kinds of +punishments against the commons. Now, in order that their unbounded +license might not last forever, he would bring forward a law that five +persons be appointed to draw up laws regarding the consular power, by +which the consul should use that right which the people should have +given him over them, not considering their own caprice and license +as law. Notice having been given of this law, as the patricians were +afraid, lest, in the absence of the consuls, they should be subjected +to the yoke; the senate was convened by Quintus Fabius, prefect of the +city, who inveighed so vehemently against the bill and its proposer +that no kind of threats or intimidation was omitted by him, which both +the consuls could supply, even though they surrounded the tribune in +all their exasperation: That he had lain in wait, and, having seized a +favourable opportunity, had made an attack on the commonwealth. If +the gods in their anger had given them any tribune like him in the +preceding year, during the pestilence and war, it could not have +been endured: that, when both the consuls were dead, and the state +prostrate and enfeebled, in the midst of the general confusion he +would have proposed laws to abolish the consular government altogether +from the state; that he would have headed the Volscians and Æquans in +an attack on the city. What, if the consuls behaved in a tyrannical or +cruel manner against any of the citizens, was it not open to him to +appoint a day of trial for them, to arraign them before those very +judges against any one of whom severity might have been exercised? +That he by his conduct was rendering, not the consular authority, but +the tribunician power hateful and insupportable; which, after having +been in a state of peace, and on good terms with the patricians, was +now being brought back anew to its former mischievous practices; nor +did he beg of him not to proceed as he had begun. "Of you, the other +tribunes," said Fabius, "we beg that you will first of all consider +that that power was appointed for the aid of individuals, not for the +ruin of the community; that you were created tribunes of the commons, +not enemies of the patricians. To us it is distressing, to you +a source of odium, that the republic, now bereft of its chief +magistrates, should be attacked; you will diminish not your rights, +but the odium against you. Confer with your colleague that he may +postpone this business till the arrival of the consuls, to be then +discussed afresh; even the Æquans and the Volscians, when our consuls +were carried off by pestilence last year, did not harass us with a +cruel and tyrannical war." The tribunes conferred with Terentilius, +and the bill being to all appearance deferred, but in reality +abandoned, the consuls were immediately sent for. + +Lucretius returned with immense spoil, and much greater glory; and +this glory he increased on his arrival, by exposing all the booty in +the Campus Martius, so that each person might, for the space of three +days, recognise what belonged to him and carry it away; the remainder, +for which no owners were forthcoming, was sold. A triumph was by +universal consent due to the consul; but the matter was deferred, as +the tribune again urged his law; this to the consul seemed of greater +importance. The business was discussed for several days, both in the +senate and before the people: at last the tribune yielded to the +majesty of the consul, and desisted; then their due honour was paid to +the general and his army. He triumphed over the Volscians and Æquans; +his troops followed him in his triumph. The other consul was allowed +to enter the city in ovation[15]unaccompanied by his soldiers. + +In the following year the Terentilian law, being brought forward +again by the entire college, engaged the serious attention of the new +consuls, who were Publius Volumnius and Servius Sulpicius. In that +year the sky seemed to be on fire, and a violent earthquake took +place: it was believed that an ox spoke, a phenomenon which had not +been credited in the previous year: among other prodigies there was a +shower of flesh, which a large flock of birds is said to have carried +off by pecking at the falling pieces: that which fell to the ground +is said to have lain scattered about just as it was for several days, +without becoming tainted. The books were consulted[16] by the duumviri +for sacred rites: dangers of attacks to be made on the highest +parts of the city, and of consequent bloodshed, were predicted as +threatening from an assemblage of strangers; among other things, +admonition was given that all intestine disturbances should be +abandoned.[17] The tribunes alleged that that was done to obstruct the +law, and a desperate contest was at hand. + +On a sudden, however, that the same order of events might be renewed +each year, the Hernicans announced that the Volscians and the Æquans, +in spite of their strength being much impaired, were recruiting their +armies: that the centre of events was situated at Antium; that the +colonists of Antium openly held councils at Ecetra: that there was the +head--there was the strength--of the war. As soon as this announcement +was made in the senate, a levy was proclaimed: the consuls were +commanded to divide the management of the war between them; that the +Volscians should be the sphere of action of the one, the Æquans of the +other. The tribunes loudly declared openly in the forum that the story +of the Volscian war was nothing but a got-up farce: that the Hernicans +had been trained to act their parts: that the liberty of the Roman +people was now not even crushed by manly efforts, but was baffled by +cunning; because it was now no longer believed that the Volscians and +the Æquans who were almost utterly annihilated, could of themselves +begin hostilities, new enemies were sought for: that a loyal colony, +and one in their very vicinity, was being rendered infamous: that war +was proclaimed against the unoffending people of Antium, in reality +waged with the commons of Rome, whom, loaded with arms, they were +determined to drive out of the city with precipitous haste, wreaking +their vengeance on the tribunes by the exile and expulsion of their +fellow-citizens. That by these means--and let them not think that +there was any other object contemplated--the law was defeated, unless, +while the matter was still in abeyance, while they were still at home +and in the grab of citizens, they took precautions, so as to avoid +being driven out of possession of the city, or being subjected to the +yoke. If they only had spirit, support would not be wanting: that +all the tribunes were unanimous: that there was no apprehension from +abroad, no danger. That the gods had taken care, in the preceding +year that their liberty could be defended with safety. Thus spoke the +tribunes. + +But on the other side, the consuls, having placed their chairs[18] +within view of them, were holding the levy; thither the tribunes +hastened down, and carried the assembly along with them; a few [19] +were summoned, as it were, by way of making an experiment, and +instantly violence ensued. Whomsoever the lictor laid hold of by order +of the consul, him the tribune ordered to be released; nor did his own +proper jurisdiction set a limit to each, but they rested their hopes +on force, and whatever they set their mind upon, was to be gained by +violence. Just as the tribunes had behaved in impeding the levy, in +the same manner did the consuls conduct themselves in obstructing the +law which was brought forward on each assembly day. The beginning of +the riot was that the patricians refused to allow themselves to be +moved away, when the tribunes ordered the people to proceed to give +their vote. Scarcely any of the older citizens mixed themselves up +in the affair, inasmuch as it was one that would not be directed by +prudence, but was entirely abandoned to temerity and daring. The +consuls also frequently kept out of the way, lest in the general +confusion they might expose their dignity to insult. There was one +Cæso Quinctius, a youth who prided himself both on the nobility of +his descent, and his bodily stature and strength; to these endowments +bestowed on him by the gods, he himself had added many brave deeds +in war, and eloquence in the forum; so that no one in the state was +considered readier either in speech or action. When he had taken his +place in the midst of a body of the patricians, pre-eminent above +the rest, carrying as it were in his eloquence and bodily strength +dictatorships and consulships combined, he alone withstood the storms +of the tribunes and the populace. Under his guidance the tribunes were +frequently driven from the forum, the commons routed and dispersed; +such as came in his way, came off ill-treated and stripped: so that it +became quite clear that, if he were allowed to proceed in this way, +the law was as good as defeated Then, when the other tribunes were +now almost thrown into despair, Aulus Verginius, one of the colleges, +appointed a day for Cæso to take his trial on a capital charge. By +this proceeding he rather irritated than intimidated his violent +temper: so much the more vigorously did he oppose the law, harass +the commons, and persecute the tribunes, as if in a regular war. The +accuser suffered the accused to rush headlong to his ruin, and to fan +the flame of odium and supply material for the charges he intended to +bring against him: in the meantime he proceeded with the law, not +so much in the hope of carrying it through, as with the object +of provoking rash action on the part of Cæso. After that many +inconsiderate expressions and actions of the younger patricians were +put down to the temper of Cæso alone, owing to the suspicion with +which he was regarded: still the law was resisted. Also Aulus +Verginius frequently remarked to the people: "Are you now sensible, +Quirites that you can not at the same time have Cæso as a +fellow-citizen, and the law which you desire? Though why do I speak +of the law? He is a hindrance to your liberty; he surpasses all the +Tarquins in arrogance. Wait till that man is made consul or dictator, +whom, though but a private citizen, you now see exercising kingly +power by his strength and audacity." Many agreed, complaining that +they had been beaten by him: and, moreover, urged the tribune to go +through with the prosecution. + +The day of trial was now at hand, and it was evident that people in +general considered that their liberty depended on the condemnation of +Cæso: then, at length being forced to do so, he solicited the commons +individually, though with a strong feeling of indignation; his +relatives and the principal men of the state attended him. Titus +Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, recounting many +splendid achievements of his own, and of his family, declared that +neither in the Quinctian family, nor in the Roman state, had there +ever appeared such a promising genius displaying such early valour. +That he himself was the first under whom he had served, that he had +often in his sight fought against the enemy. Spurius Furius declared +that Cæso, having been sent to him by Quinctius Capitolinus, had come +to his aid when in the midst of danger; that there was no single +individual by whose exertions he considered the common weal had been +more effectually re-established. Lucius Lucretius, the consul of the +preceding year, in the full splendour of recent glory, shared his own +meritorious services with Cæso; he recounted his battles detailed his +distinguished exploits, both in expeditions and in pitched battle; +he recommended and advised them to choose rather that a youth so +distinguished, endowed with all the advantages of nature and fortune, +and one who should prove the greatest support of whatsoever state he +should visit, should continue to be a fellow-citizen of their own, +rather than become the citizen of a foreign state: that with respect +to those qualities which gave offence in him, hot-headedness and +overboldness, they were such as increasing years removed more and more +every day: that what was lacking, prudence, increased day by day: that +as his faults declined, and his virtues ripened, they should allow so +distinguished a man to grow old in the state. Among these his father, +Lucius Quinctius, who bore the surname of Cincinnatus, without +dwelling too often on his services, so as not to heighten public +hatred, but soliciting pardon for his youthful errors, implored them +to forgive his son for his sake, who had not given offence to any +either by word or deed. But while some, through respect or fear, +turned away from his entreaties, others, by the harshness of their +answer, complaining that they and their friends had been ill-treated, +made no secret of what their decision would be. + +Independently of the general odium, one charge in particular bore +heavily on the accused; that Marcus Volscius Fictor, who some years +before had been tribune of the people, had come forward to bear +testimony: that not long after the pestilence had raged in the city, +he had fallen in with a party of young men rioting in the Subura;[20] +that a scuffle had taken place: and that his elder brother, not yet +perfectly recovered from his illness, had been knocked down by Cæso +with a blow of his fist: that he had been carried home half dead in +the arms of some bystanders, and that he was ready to declare that +he had died from the blow: and that he had not been permitted by +the consuls of former years to obtain redress for such an atrocious +affair. In consequence of Volscius vociferating these charges, the +people became so excited that Cæso was near being killed through the +violence of the crowd. Verginius ordered him to be seized and dragged +off to prison. The patricians opposed force to force. Titus Quinctius +exclaimed that a person for whom a day of trial for a capital offence +had been appointed, and whose trial was now close at hand, ought not +to be outraged before he was condemned, and without a hearing. The +tribune replied that he would not inflict punishment on him before he +was condemned: that he would, however, keep him in prison until the +day of trial, that the Roman people might have an opportunity of +inflicting punishment on one who had killed a man.[21] The tribunes +being appealed to, got themselves out of the difficulty in regard to +their prerogative of rendering aid, by a resolution that adopted a +middle course: they forbade his being thrown into confinement, and +declared it to be their wish that the accused should be brought to +trial, and that a sum of money should be promised to the people, +in case he should not appear. How large a sum of money ought to be +promised was a matter of doubt: the decision was accordingly referred +to the senate. The accused was detained in public custody until the +patricians should be consulted: it was decided that bail should be +given: they bound each surety in the sum of three thousand asses; how +many sureties should be given was left to the tribunes; they fixed the +number at ten: on this number of sureties the prosecutor admitted the +accused to bail.[22] He was the first who gave public sureties. Being +discharged from the forum, he went the following night into exile +among the Tuscans. When on the day of trial it was pleaded that he +had withdrawn into voluntary exile, nevertheless, at a meeting of +the comitia under the presidency of Verginius, his colleagues, when +appealed to, dismissed the assembly: [23] the fine was rigorously +exacted from his father, so that, having sold all his effects, he +lived for a considerable time in an out-of-the-way cottage on the +other side of the Tiber, as if in exile. + +This trial and the proposal of the law gave full employment to the +state: in regard to foreign wars there was peace. When the tribunes, +as if victorious, imagined that the law was all but passed owing to +the dismay of the patricians at the banishment of Cæso, and in +fact, as far as regarded the seniors of the patricians, they had +relinquished all share in the administration of the commonwealth, the +juniors, more especially those who were the intimate friends of Cæso, +redoubled their resentful feelings against the commons, and did not +allow their spirits to fail; but the greatest improvement was made +in this particular, that they tempered their animosity by a certain +degree of moderation. The first time when, after Cseso's banishment, +the law began to be brought forward, these, arrayed and well prepared, +with a numerous body of clients, so attacked the tribunes, as soon as +they afforded a pretext for it by attempting to remove them, that no +one individual carried home from thence a greater share than another, +either of glory or ill-will, but the people complained that in place +of one Cæso a thousand had arisen. During the days that intervened, +when the tribunes took no proceedings regarding the law, nothing could +be more mild or peaceable than those same persons; they saluted the +plebeians courteously, entered into conversation with them, and +invited them home: they attended them in the forum,[24] and suffered +the tribunes themselves to hold the rest of their meetings without +interruption: they were never discourteous to any one either in public +or in private, except on occasions when the matter of the law began +to be agitated. In other respects the young men were popular. And +not only did the tribunes transact all their other affairs without +disturbance, but they were even re-elected or the following year. +Without even an offensive expression, much less any violence being +employed, but by soothing and carefully managing the commons the young +patricians gradually rendered them tractable. By these artifices the +law was evaded through the entire year. + +The consuls Gaius Claudius, the son of Appius, and Publius Valerius +Publicola, took over the government from their predecessors in a more +tranquil condition. The next year had brought with it nothing new: +thoughts about carrying the law, or submitting to it, engrossed the +attention of the state. The more the younger patricians strove +to insinuate themselves into favour with the plebeians, the more +strenuously did the tribunes strive on the other hand to render them +suspicious in the eyes of the commons by alleging that a conspiracy +had been formed; that Cæso was in Rome; that plans had been concerted +for assassinating the tribunes, for butchering the commons. That the +commission assigned by the elder members of the patricians was, that +the young men should abolish the tribunician power from the state, and +the form of government should be the same as it had been before the +occupation of the Sacred Mount. At the same time a war from the +Volscians and Æquans, which had now become a fixed and almost regular +occurrence every year, was apprehended, and another evil nearer home +started up unexpectedly. Exiles and slaves, to the number of two +thousand five hundred, seized the Capitol and citadel during the +night, under the command of Appius Herdonius, a Sabine. Those who +refused to join the conspiracy and take up arms with them were +immediately massacred in the citadel: others, during the disturbance, +fled in headlong panic down to the forum: the cries, "To arms!" and +"The enemy are in the city!" were heard alternately. The consuls +neither dared to arm the commons, nor to suffer them to remain +unarmed; uncertain what sudden calamity had assailed the city, whether +from without or within, whether arising from the hatred of the commons +or the treachery of the slaves: they tried to quiet the disturbances, +and while trying to do so they sometimes aroused them; for the +populace, panic-stricken and terrified, could not be directed by +authority. They gave out arms, however, but not indiscriminately; only +so that, as it was yet uncertain who the enemy were, there might be +a protection sufficiently reliable to meet all emergencies. The +remainder of the night they passed in posting guards in suitable +places throughout the city, anxious and uncertain who the enemy were, +and how great their number. Daylight subsequently disclosed the war +and its leader. Appius Herdonius summoned the slaves to liberty from +the Capitol, saying, that he had espoused the cause of all the most +unfortunate, in order to bring back to their country those who had +been exiled and driven out by wrong, and to remove the grievous yoke +from the slaves: that he had rather that were done under the authority +of the Roman people. If there were no hope in that quarter, he would +rouse the Volscians and Aequans, and would try even the most desperate +remedies. + +The whole affair now began to be clearer to the patricians and +consuls; besides the news, however, which was officially announced, +they dreaded lest this might be a scheme of the Veientines or Sabines; +and, further, as there were so many of the enemy in the city, lest +the Sabine and Etruscan troops might presently come up according to +a concerted plan, and their inveterate enemies, the Volscians and +Aequans should come, not to ravage their territories, as before, but +even to the gates of the city, as being already in part taken. Many +and various were their fears, the most prominent among which was their +dread of the slaves, lest each should harbour an enemy in his own +house, one whom it was neither sufficiently safe to trust, nor, by +distrusting, to pronounce unworthy of confidence, lest he might prove +a more deadly foe. And it scarcely seemed that the evil could be +resisted by harmony: no one had any fear of tribunes or commons, while +other troubles so predominated and threatened to swamp the state: that +fear seemed an evil of a mild nature, and one that always arose during +the cessation of other ills, and then appeared to be lulled to rest +by external alarm. Yet at the present time that, almost more than +anything else, weighed heavily on their sinking fortunes: for such +madness took possession of the tribunes, that contended that not war, +but an empty appearance of war, had taken possession of the Capitol, +to divert the people's minds from attending to the law: that these +friends and clients of the patricians would depart in deeper silence +than they had come, if they once perceived that, by the law being +passed, they had raised these tumults in vain. They then held a +meeting for passing the law, having called away the people from arms. +In the meantime, the consuls convened the senate, another dread +presenting itself by the action of the tribunes, greater than that +which the nightly foe had occasioned. + +When it was announced that the men were laying aside their arms, and +quitting their posts, Publius Valerius, while his colleague still +detained the senate, hastened from the senate-house, and went thence +into the meeting-place to the tribunes. "What is all this," said he, +"O tribunes? Are you determined to overthrow the commonwealth under +the guidance and auspices of Appius Herdonius? Has he been so +successful in corrupting you, he who, by his authority, has not even +influenced your slaves? When the enemy is over our heads, is it your +pleasure that we should give up our arms, and laws be proposed?" Then, +directing his words to the populace: "If, Quirites, no concern for +your city, or for yourselves, moves you, at least revere the gods +of your country, now made captive by the enemy. Jupiter, best +and greatest, Queen Juno, and Minerva, and the other gods and +goddesses,[25] are being besieged; a camp of slaves now holds +possession of the tutelary gods of the state. Does this seem to you +the behavior of a state in its senses? Such a crowd of enemies is not +only within the walls, but in the citadel, commanding the forum an +senate-house: in the meanwhile meetings are being held in the forum, +the senate is in the senate-house: just as when tranquility prevails, +the senator gives his opinion, the other Romans their votes. Does it +not behoove all patricians and plebeians, consuls, tribunes, gods, and +men of all classes, to bring aid with arms in their hands, to hurry +into the Capitol, to liberate and restore to peace that most august +residence of Jupiter, best and greatest? O Father Romulus! Do thou +inspire thy progeny with that determination of thine, by which thou +didst formerly recover from these same Sabines this citadel, when +captured by gold. Order them to pursue this same path, which thou, as +leader, and thy army, pursued. Lo! I as consul will be the first to +follow thee and thy footsteps, as far as I, a mortal, can follow a +god." Then, in concluding his speech, he said that he was ready to +take up arms, that he summoned every citizen of Rome to arms; if any +one should oppose, that he, heedless of the consular authority, the +tribunician power, and the devoting laws, would consider him as an +enemy, whoever and wheresoever he might be, in the Capitol, or in the +forum. Let the tribunes order arms to be taken up against Publius +Valerius the consul, since they forbade it against Appius Herdonius; +that he would dare to act in the case of the tribunes, as the founder +of his family [26] had dared to act in the case of the kings. It was +now clear that matters would come to violent extremities, and that a +quarrel among Romans would be exhibited to the enemy. The law however +could neither be carried, nor could the consul proceed to the Capitol. +Night put an end to the struggle that had been begun; the tribunes +yielded to the night, dreading the arms of the consuls.[27] When the +ringleaders of the disturbances had been removed, the patricians went +about among the commons, and, mingling in their meetings, spread +statements suited to the occasion: they advised them to take heed into +what danger they were bringing the commonwealth: that the contest +was not one between patricians and commons, but that patricians and +commons together, the fortress of the city, the temples of the gods, +the guardian gods of the state and of private families, were being +delivered up to the enemy. While these measures were being taken in +the forum for the purpose of appeasing the disturbances, the consuls +in the meantime had retired to visit the gates and the walls, fearing +that the Sabines or the Veientine enemy might bestir themselves. + +During the same night, messengers reached Tusculum with news of the +capture of the citadel, the seizure of the Capitol, and also of the +generally disturbed condition of the city. Lucius Mamilius was at that +time dictator at Tusculum; he, having immediately convoked the senate +and introduced the messengers, earnestly advised, that they should not +wait until ambassadors came from Rome, suing for assistance; that the +danger itself and importance of the crisis, the gods of allies, and +the good faith of treaties, demanded it; that the gods would never +afford them a like opportunity of obliging so powerful a state and so +near a neighbour. It was resolved that assistance should be sent the +young men were enrolled, and arms given them. On their way to Rome at +break of day, at a distance they exhibited the appearance of enemies. +The Æquans or Volscians were thought to be coming. Then, after the +groundless alarm was removed, they were admitted into the city and +descended in a body into the forum. There Publius Valerius, having +left his colleague with the guards of the gates, was now drawing up +his forces in order of battle. The great influence of the man produced +an effect on the people, when he declared that, when the Capitol was +recovered, and the city restored to peace, if they allowed themselves +to be convinced what hidden guile was contained in the law proposed by +the tribunes, he, mindful of his ancestors, mindful of his surname, +and remembering that the duty of protecting the people had been handed +down to him as hereditary by his ancestors, would offer no obstruction +to the meeting of the people. Following him, as their leader, in spite +of the fruitless opposition of the tribunes, they marched up the +ascent of the Capitoline Hill. The Tusculan troops also joined them. +Allies and citizens vied with each other as to which of them should +appropriate to themselves the honour of recovering the citadel. Each +leader encouraged his own men. Then the enemy began to be alarmed, and +placed no dependence on anything but their position. While they were +in this state of alarm, the Romans and allies advanced to attack them. +They had already burst into the porch of the temple, when Publius +Valerius was slain while cheering on the fight at the head of his men. +Publius Volumnius, a man of consular rank, saw him falling. Having +directed his men to cover the body, he himself rushed forward to +take the place and duty of the consul. Owing to their excitement and +impetuosity, this great misfortune passed unnoticed by the soldiers, +they conquered before they perceived that they were fighting without a +leader. Many of the exiles defiled the temple with their blood; many +were taken prisoners: Herdonius was slain. Thus the Capitol was +recovered. With respect to the prisoners, punishment was inflicted on +each according to his station, as he was a freeman or a slave. The +Tusculans received the thanks of the Romans: the Capitol was cleansed +and purified. The commons are stated to have thrown every man a +farthing into the consul's house, that he might be buried with more +splendid obsequies. + +Order being thus established, the tribunes then urged the patricians +to fulfill the Promise given by Publius Valerius; they pressed on +Claudius to free the shade of his colleague from breach of faith, and +to allow the matter of the law to proceed. The consul asserted that he +would not suffer the discussion of the law to proceed, until he had +appointed a colleague to assist him. These disputes lasted until the +time of the elections for the substitution of a consul. In the month +of December, by the most strenuous exertions of the patricians, Lucius +Quinctius Cincinnatus, Caeso's father, was elected consul, to enter +upon office without delay. The commons were dismayed at being about to +have for consul a man incensed against them, powerful by the support +of the patricians, by his own merit, and by reason of his three sons, +not one of whom was inferior to Caeso in greatness of spirit, while +they were his superiors in the exercise of prudence and moderation, +whenever occasion required. When he entered upon office, in his +frequent harangues from the tribunal, he was not more vehement in +restraining the commons than in reproving the senate, owing to the +listlessness of which body the tribunes of the commons, now become a +standing institution, exercised regal authority, by means of their +readiness of speech and prosecutions, not as if in a republic of the +Roman people, but as if in an ill-regulated household. That with his +son Caeso, valour, constancy, all the splendid qualifications of youth +in war and in peace, had been driven and exiled from the city of Rome: +that talkative and turbulent men, sowers of discord, twice and even +thrice re-elected tribunes by the vilest intrigues, lived in the +enjoyment of regal irresponsibility. "Does that Aulus Verginius," said +he, "deserve less punishment than Appius Herdonius, because he was not +in the Capitol? Considerably more, by Hercules, if any one will look +at the matter fairly. Herdonius, if nothing else, by avowing himself +an enemy, thereby as good as gave you notice to take up arms: this +man, by denying the existence of war, took arms out of your hands, and +exposed you defenceless to the attack of slaves and exiles. And did +you--I will speak with all due respect for Gaius Claudius and +Publius Valerius, now no more--did you decide to advance against the +Capitoline Hill before you expelled those enemies from the forum? I +feel ashamed in the sight of gods and men. When the enemy were in the +citadel, in the Capitol, when the leader of the exiles and slaves, +after profaning everything, took up his residence in the shrine of +Jupiter, best and greatest, arms were taken up at Tusculum sooner +than at Rome. It was a matter of doubt whether Lucius Mamilius, the +Tusculan leader, or Publius Valerius and Gaius Claudius, the consuls, +recovered the Roman citadel, and we, who formerly did not suffer the +Latins to touch arms, not even in their own defence, when they had the +enemy on their very frontiers, should have been taken and destroyed +now, had not the Latins taken up arms of their own accord. Tribunes, +is this bringing aid to the commons, to expose them in a defenceless +state to be butchered by the enemy? I suppose, if any one, even the +humblest individual of your commons--which portion you have as it were +broken off from the rest of the state, and created a country and a +commonwealth of your own--if any one of these were to bring you word +that his house was beset by an armed band of slaves, you would think +that assistance should be afforded him: was then Jupiter, best +and greatest, when hemmed in by the arms of exiles and of slaves, +deserving of no human aid? And do these persons claim to be considered +sacred and inviolable, to whom the gods themselves are neither sacred +nor inviolable? Well but, loaded as you are with crimes against both +gods and men, you proclaim that you will pass your law this year. +Verily then, on the day I was created consul, it was a disastrous act +of the state, much more so even than the day when Publius Valerius +the consul fell, if you shall pass it. Now, first of all," said he, +"Quirites, it is the intention of myself and of my colleague to march +the legions against the Volscians and the Aequans. I know not by what +fatality we find the gods more propitious when we are at war than in +peace. How great the danger from those states would have been, had +they known that the Capitol was besieged by exiles, it is better to +conjecture from what is past, than to learn by actual experience." + +The consul's harangue had a great effect on the commons: the +patricians, recovering their spirits, believed the state +re-established. The other consul, a more ardent partner than promoter +of a measure, readily allowing his colleague to take the lead in +measures of such importance, claimed to himself his share of the +consular duty in carrying these measures into execution. Then the +tribunes, mocking these declarations as empty, went on to ask how the +consuls were going to lead out an army, seeing that no one would allow +them to hold a levy? "But," replied Quinctius, "we have no need of a +levy, since, at the time Publius Valerius gave arms to the commons to +recover the Capitol, they all took an oath to him, that they would +assemble at the command of the consul, and would not depart without +his permission. We therefore publish an order that all of you, who +have sworn, attend to-morrow under arms at the Lake Regillus." The +tribunes then began to quibble, and wanted to absolve the people from +their obligation, asserting that Quinctius was a private person at the +time when they were bound by the oath. But that disregard of the gods, +which possesses the present generation, had not yet gained ground: +nor did every one accommodate oaths and laws to his own purposes, by +interpreting them as it suited him, but rather adapted his own conduct +to them. Wherefore the tribunes, as there was no hope of obstructing +the matter, attempted to delay the departure of the army the more +earnestly on this account, because a report had gone out, both that +the augurs had been ordered to attend at the Lake Regillius and that a +place was to be consecrated, where business might be transacted with +the people by auspices: and whatever had been passed at Rome by +tribunician violence, might be repealed there in the assembly.[28] +That all would order what the consuls desired: for that there was no +appeal at a greater distance than a mile [29] from the city: and that +the tribunes, if they should come there, would, like the rest of the +Quirites, be subjected to the consular authority. This alarmed them: +but the greatest anxiety which affected their minds was because +Quinctius frequently declared that he would not hold an election of +consuls. That the malady of the state was not of an ordinary nature, +so that it could be stopped by the ordinary remedies. That the +commonwealth required a dictator, so that whoever attempted to disturb +the condition of the state, might feel that from the dictatorship +there was no appeal. + +The senate was assembled in the Capitol. Thither the tribunes came +with the commons in a state of great consternation: the multitude, +with loud clamours, implored the protection, now of the consuls, +now of the patricians: nor could they move the consul from his +determination, until the tribunes promised that they would submit to +the authority of the senate. Then, on the consul's laying before them +the demands of the tribunes and commons, decrees of the senate were +passed: that neither should the tribunes propose the law during that +year, nor should the consuls lead out the army from the city--that, +for the future, the senate decided that it was against the interests +of the commonwealth that the same magistrates should be continued +and the same tribunes be reappointed. The consuls conformed to +the authority of the senate: the tribunes were reappointed, +notwithstanding the remonstrance of the consuls. The patricians also, +that they might not yield to the commons in any particular, themselves +proposed to re-elect Lucius Quinctius consul. No address of the consul +was delivered with greater warmth during the entire year. "Can I be +surprised," said he, "if your authority with the people is held in +contempt, O conscript fathers? It is you yourselves who are weakening +it. Forsooth, because the commons have violated a decree of the +senate, by reappointing their magistrates, you yourselves also wish +it to be violated, that you may not be outdone by the populace in +rashness; as if greater power in the state consisted in the possession +of greater inconstancy and liberty of action; for it is certainly more +inconstant and greater folly to render null and void one's own decrees +and resolutions, than those of others. Do you, O conscript fathers, +imitate the unthinking multitude; and do you, who should be an example +to others, prefer to transgress by the example of others, rather +than that others should act rightly by yours, provided only I do not +imitate the tribunes, nor allow myself to be declared consul, contrary +to the decree of the senate. But as for you, Gaius Claudius, I +recommend that you, as well as myself, restrain the Roman people from +this licentious spirit, and that you be persuaded of this, as far as I +am concerned, that I shall take it in such a spirit, that I shall not +consider that my attainment of office has been obstructed by you, but +that the glory of having declined the honour has been augmented, and +the odium, which would threaten me if it were continued, lessened." +Thereupon they issued this order jointly: That no one should support +the election of Lucius Quinctius as consul: if any one should do so, +that they would not allow the vote. + +The consuls elected were Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (for the third +time), and Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis. The census was taken during +that year; it was a matter of religious scruple that the lustrum +should be closed, on account of the seizure of the Capitol and the +death of the consul. In the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Lucius +Cornelius, disturbances woke out immediately at the beginning of +the year. The tribunes were urging on the commons. The Latins and +Hernicans brought word that a formidable war was threatening on the +part of the Volscians and Æquans; that the troops of the Volscians +were now in the neighbourhood of Antium. Great apprehension was also +entertained, that the colony itself would revolt: and with difficulty +the tribunes were prevailed upon to allow the war to be attended to +first. The consuls divided their respective spheres of action. Fabius +was commissioned to march the legions to Antium: to Cornelius was +assigned the duty of keeping guard at Rome, lest any portion of the +enemy's troops, as was the practice of the Aequans, should advance to +commit depredations. The Hernicans and Latins were ordered to supply +soldiers in accordance with the treaty; and of the army two thirds +consisted of allies, the remainder of Roman citizens. When the allies +arrived on the appointed day, the consul pitched his camp outside the +porta Capena.[30] Then, after the army had been reviewed, he set out +for Antium, and encamped not far from the town and fixed quarters +of the enemy. There, when the Volscians, not venturing to risk an +engagement, because the contingent from the Aequans had not yet +arrived, were making preparations to see how they might protect +themselves quietly within their ramparts, on the following day Fabius +drew up not one mixed army of allies and citizens, but three bodies +of the three states separately around the enemy's works. He himself +occupied the centre with the Roman legions. He ordered them to watch +for the signal for action, so that at the same time both the allies +might begin the action together, and retire together if he should give +orders to sound a retreat. He also posted the proper cavalry of each +division behind the front line. Having thus assailed the camp at three +different points, he surrounded it: and, pressing on from every side, +he dislodged the Volscians, who were unable to withstand his attack, +from the rampart. Having then crossed the fortifications, he drove out +from the camp the crowd who were panic-stricken and inclining to make +for one direction. Upon this the cavalry, who could not have easily +passed over the rampart, having stood by till then as mere spectators +of the fight, came up with them while flying in disorder over the +open plain, and enjoyed a share of the victory, by cutting down the +affrighted troops. Great was the slaughter of the fugitives, both +in the camp and outside the lines; but the booty was still greater, +because the enemy were scarcely able to carry off their arms with +them; and the entire army would have been destroyed, had not the woods +covered them in their flight. + +While these events were taking place at Antium, the Aequans, in the +meanwhile, sending forward the flower of their youth surprised the +citadel of Tusculum by night: and with the rest of their army sat down +at no great distance from the walls of Tusculutn, so as to divide the +forces of the enemy.[31] News of this being quickly brought to Rome, +and from Rome to the camp at Antium, affected the Romans no less than +if it had been announced that the Capitol was taken; so recent was +the service rendered by the Tusculans, and the very similarity of the +danger seemed to demand a return of the aid that had been afforded. +Fabius, giving up all thought of everything else, removed the booty +hastily from the camp to Antium: and, having left a small garrison +there, hurried on his army by forced marches to Tusculum. The soldiers +were allowed to take with them nothing but their arms, and whatever +baked provision was at hand. The consul Cornelius sent up provisions +from Rome. The war was carried on at Tusculum for several months. With +one part of his army the consul assailed the camp of the Aequans; +he had given part to the Tusculans to aid in the recovery of their +citadel. They could never have made their way up to it by force: at +length famine caused the enemy to withdraw from it. When matters +subsequently came to extremities, they were all sent under the yoke, +[32] by the Tusculans, unarmed and naked. While returning home in +ignominious flight, they were overtaken by the Roman consul at +Algidum, and cut to pieces to a man.[33] After this victory, having +marched back his army to Columen (so is the place named), he pitched +his camp there. The other consul also, as soon as the Roman walls +ceased to be in danger, now that the enemy had been defeated, set out +from Rome. Thus the consuls, having entered the territories of the +enemies on two different sides, in eager rivalry plundered the +territory of the Volscians on the one hand, and of the Aequans on the +other. I find it stated by several writers that the people of Antium +revolted during the same year. That Lucius Cornelius, the consul, +conducted that war and took the town; I would not venture to assert +it for certain, because no mention is made of the matter in the older +writers. + +This war being concluded, a tribunician war at home alarmed the +senate. The tribunes held that the detention of the army abroad was +due to a fraudulent motive: that that deception was intended to +prevent the passing of the law; that they, however, would none +the less go through with the matter they had undertaken. Publius +Lucretius, however, the prefect of the city, so far prevailed, that +the proceedings of the tribunes were postponed till the arrival of the +consuls. A new cause of disturbance had also arisen. The quæstors, +[34] Aulus Cornelius and Quintus Servilius, appointed a day of trial +for Marcus Volscius, because he had come forward as a manifestly false +witness against Caeso. For it was established by many proofs, that the +brother of Volscius, from the time he first fell ill, had not only +never been seen in public, but that he had not even left his bed after +he had been attacked by illness, and that he had died of a wasting +disease of several months' standing; and that at the time to which the +witness had referred the commission of the crime, Caeso had not +been seen at Rome: while those who had served in the army with him +positively stated that at that time he had regularly attended at his +post along with them without any leave of absence. Many, on their own +account, proposed to Volscius to refer the matter to the decision of +an arbitrator. As he did not venture to go to trial, all these points +coinciding rendered the condemnation of Volscius no less certain than +that of Caeso had been on the testimony of Volscius. The tribunes were +the cause of delay, who said that they would not suffer the quæstors +to hold the assembly concerning the accused, unless it were first held +concerning the law. Thus both matters were spun out till the arrival +of the consuls. When they entered the city in triumph with their +victorious army, because nothing was said about the law, many thought +that the tribunes were struck with dismay. But they in reality (for +it was now the close of the year), being eager to obtain a fourth +tribuneship, had turned away their efforts from the law to the +discussion of the elections; and when the consuls, with the object of +lessening their dignity, opposed the continuation of their tribuneship +with no less earnestness than if the law in question had been +proposed, the victory in the contest was on the side of the tribunes. + +In the same year peace was granted to the Aequans on their suing for +it. The census, begun in the preceding year, was completed: this is +said to have been the tenth lustrum that was completed from the date +of the foundation of the city. The number of citizens rated was one +hundred and seventeen thousand three hundred and nineteen. The consuls +obtained great glory this year both at home and in war, because they +established peace abroad, while at home, though the state was not in a +condition of absolute harmony, yet it was less harassed by dissensions +than at other times. + +Lucius Minucius and Gaius Nautius being next elected consuls took up +the two causes which remained undecided from the preceding year. As +before, the consuls obstructed the law, the tribunes the trial of +Volscius: but in the new quæstors there was greater power and greater +influence. With Marcus Valerius, son of Manius and grandson of Volesus +Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, was appointed +quaestor. Since Caeso could neither be restored to the Quinctian +family, nor to the state, though a most promising youth, did he, +justly, and as in duty bound, prosecute the false witness who had +deprived an innocent person of the power of pleading his cause. When +Verginius, more than any of the tribunes, busied himself about the +passing of the law, the space of two months was allowed the consuls to +examine into the law: on condition that, when they had satisfied the +people as to what secret designs were concealed under it, [35] they +should then allow them to give their votes. The granting of this +respite established tranquility in the city. The Aequans, however, did +not allow them long rest: in violation of the treaty which had been +made with the Romans the year before, they conferred the chief command +on Gracchus Cloelius. He was then by far the chief man among the +Aequans. Under the command of Gracchus they advanced with hostile +depredations into the district of Labici, from thence into that of +Tusculum, and, laden with booty, pitched their camp at Algidum. To +that camp came Quintus Fabius, Publius Volumnius, Aulus Postumius, +ambassadors from Rome, to complain of the wrongs committed, and to +demand restitution in accordance with the treaty. The general of the +Aequans commanded them to deliver to the oak the message they brought +from the Roman senate; that he in the meantime would attend to +other matters. An oak, a mighty tree, whose shade formed a cool +resting-place, overhung the general's tent. Then one of the +ambassadors, when departing, cried out: "Let both this consecrated oak +and all the gods hear that the treaty has been broken by you, and +both lend a favourable ear to our complaints now, and assist our arms +presently, when we shall avenge the rights of gods and men that have +been violated simultaneously." As soon as the ambassadors returned +to Rome, the senate ordered one of the consuls to lead his army into +Algidum against Gracchus, to the other they assigned as his sphere of +action the devastation of the country of the Aequans. The tribunes, +after their usual manner, attempted to obstruct the levy, and probably +would have eventually succeeded in doing so, had not a new and +additional cause of alarm suddenly arisen. + +A large force of Sabines, committing dreadful devastation advanced +almost up to the walls of the city. The fields were laid waste, the +city was smitten with terror. Then the commons cheerfully took up +arms; two large armies were raised, the remonstrance of the tribunes +being of no avail. Nautius led one against the Sabines, and, having +pitched his camp at Eretum,[36] by trifling incursions, mostly by +night, he so desolated the Sabine territory that, in comparison with +it, the Roman borders seemed almost undamaged by the war. Minucius +neither had the same good fortune nor displayed the same energy in +conducting his operations: for after he had pitched his camp at no +great distance from the enemy, without having experienced any reverse +of importance, he kept himself through fear within the camp. When the +enemy perceived this, their boldness increased, as usually happens, +from the fears of others; and, having attacked his camp by night, when +open force availed little, they drew lines of circumvallation around +it on the following day. Before these could close the means of egress, +by a rampart thrown up on all sides, five horsemen, despatched between +the enemies' posts, brought news to Rome, that the consul and his +army were besieged. Nothing could have happened so unexpected nor so +unlooked-for. Accordingly, the panic and the alarm were as great as +if the enemy were besieging the city, not the camp. They summoned +the consul Nautius; and when there seemed to be but insufficient +protection in him, and it was determined that a dictator should be +appointed to retrieve their shattered fortunes, Lucius Quinctius +Cincinnatus was appointed by universal consent. + +It is worth while for those persons who despise all things human in +comparison with riches, and who suppose that there is no room either +for exalted honour, or for virtue, except where riches abound in great +profusion, to listen to the following: Lucius Quinctius, the sole hope +of the empire of the Roman people, cultivated a farm of four acres on +the other side of the Tiber, which is called the Quinctian meadows, +exactly opposite the place where the dock-yard now is. There, whether +leaning on a stake while digging a trench, or while ploughing, at any +rate, as is certain, while engaged on some work in the fields, after +mutual exchange of salutations had taken place, being requested by +the ambassadors to put on his toga, and listen to the commands of the +senate (with wishes that it might turn out well both for him and the +commonwealth), he was astonished, and, asking whether all was well, +bade his wife Racilia immediately bring his toga from the hut. As soon +as he had put it on and come forward, after having first wiped off the +dust and sweat, the ambassadors congratulating him, united in saluting +him as dictator: they summoned him into the city, and told him what +terror prevailed in the army. A vessel was prepared for Quinctius by +order of the government, and his three sons, having come out to +meet him, received him on landing at the other side; then his other +relatives and his friends: then the greater part of the patricians. +Accompanied by this numerous attendance, the lictors going before him, +he was conducted to his residence.[37] There was a numerous concourse +of the commons also: but they by no means looked on Quinctius with the +same satisfaction, as they considered both that he was vested with +excessive authority, and was likely to prove still more arbitrary +by the exercise of that same authority. During that night, however, +nothing was done except that guards were posted in the city. + +On the next day the dictator, having entered the forum before +daylight, appointed as his master of the horse Lucius Tarquitius, a +man of patrician family, but who, though he had served his campaigns +on foot by reason of his scanty means, was yet considered by far the +most capable in military matters among the Roman youth. With his +master of the horse he entered the assembly, proclaimed a suspension +of public business, ordered the shops to be closed throughout the +city, and forbade any one to attend to any private affairs. Then he +commanded all who were of military age to attend under arms, in the +Campus Martius, before sunset, with dressed provisions for five days +and twelve stakes apiece: those whose age rendered them unfit for +active service were ordered to prepare victuals for the soldiers near +them, while the latter were getting their arms ready, and procuring +stakes. Accordingly, the young men ran in all directions to procure +the stakes; they took them whatever was nearest to each: no one +was prevented from doing so: all attended readily according to the +dictator's order. Then, the troops being drawn up, not more suitably +for a march than for an engagement, should occasion require it, the +dictator himself marched at the head of the legions, the master of the +horse at the head of his cavalry. In both bodies such exhortations +were delivered as circumstances required: that they should quicken +their pace; that there was need of despatch, that they might reach the +enemy by night; that the consul and the Roman army were besieged; that +they had now been shut up for three days; that it was uncertain what +each day or night might bring with it; that the issues of the most +important affairs often depended on a moment of time. The soldiers, to +please their leaders, exclaimed among themselves: "Standard-bearer, +hasten; follow, soldier." At midnight they reached Algidum: and, as +soon as they perceived that they were near the enemy, they halted. + +There the dictator, riding about, and having observe as far as could +be ascertained by night, what the extent of the camp was, and what +was its nature, commanded the tribunes of the soldiers to order the +baggage to be thrown into one place, and that the soldiers with their +arms and bundles of stakes should return to their ranks. His orders +were executed. Then, with the regularity which they had observed on +the march, he drew the entire army in a long column around the enemy's +camp, and directed that, when the signal was given, they should all +raise a shout, and that, on the shout being raised, each man should +throw up a trench before his post, and fix his palisade. The orders +being issued, the signal followed: the soldiers carried out their +instructions; the shout echoed around the enemy: it then passed beyond +the camp of the enemy, and reached that of the consul: in the one it +occasioned panic, in the other great joy. The Romans, observing +to each other with exultation that this was the shout of their +countrymen, and that aid was at hand, took the initiative, and from +their watch-guards and outposts dismayed the enemy. The consul +declared that there must be no delay; that by that shouts not only +their arrival was intimated, but that hostilities were already begun +by their friends; and that it would be a wonder if the enemy's camp +were not attacked on the farther side. He therefore ordered his men to +take up arms and follow him. The battle was begun during the night. +They gave notice by a shout to the dictator's legions that on that +side also the decisive moment had arrived. The AEquans were now +preparing to prevent the works from being drawn around them, when, +the battle being begun by the enemy from within, having turned their +attention from those employed on the fortifications to those who were +fighting on the inside, lest a sally should be made through the centre +of their camp, they left the night free for the completion of the +work, and continued the fight with the consul till daylight. At +daybreak they were now encompassed by the dictator's works, and were +scarcely able to maintain the fight against one army. Then their lines +were attacked by the army of Quinctius, which, immediately after +completing its work, returned to arms. Here a new engagement pressed +on them: the former one had in no wise slackened. Then, as the danger +that beset them on both sides pressed them hard, turning from fighting +to entreaties, they implored the dictator on the one hand, the consul +on the other, not to make the victory their total destruction, and to +suffer them to depart without arms. They were ordered by the consul to +apply to the dictator: he, incensed against them, added disgrace to +defeat. He gave orders that Gracchus Cloelius, their general, and the +other leaders should be brought to him in chains, and that the town of +Corbio should be evacuated; he added that he did not desire the +lives of the Æquans: that they were at liberty to depart; but that +a confession might at last be wrung from them that their nation was +defeated and subdued, they would have to pass under the yoke. The yoke +was formed of three spears, two fixed in the ground, and one tied +across between the upper ends of them. Under this yoke the dictator +sent the Æquans. + +The enemy's camp, which was full of all their belongings--for he +had sent them out of the camp half naked--having been taken, he +distributed all the booty among his own soldiers only: rebuking the +consul's army and the consul himself, he said: "Soldiers, you shall +not enjoy any portion of the spoil taken from that enemy to whom you +yourselves nearly became a spoil: and you, Lucius Minucius, until +you begin to assume a spirit worthy of a consul, shall command these +legions only as lieutenant." Minucius accordingly resigned his office +of consul, and remained with the army, as he had been commanded. But +so meekly obedient were the minds of men at that time to authority +combined with superior merit, that this army, remembering his +kindness, rather than their own disgrace, both voted a golden crown +of a pound weight to the dictator, and saluted him as their preserver +when he set out. The senate at Rome, convened by Quintus Fabius, +prefect of the city, ordered Quinctius to enter the city in triumph, +in the order of march in which he was coming. The leaders of the enemy +were led before his car: the military standards were carried before +him: his army followed laden with spoil. Banquets are said to have +been spread before the houses of all, and the soldiers, partaking of +the entertainment, followed the chariot with the triumphal hymn and +the usual jests,[38] after the manner of revellers. On that day the +freedom of the state was granted to Lucius Mamilius of Tusculum, amid +universal approbation. The dictator would have immediately laid down +his office had not the assembly for the trial of Marcus Volscius, the +false witness, detained him; the fear of the dictator prevented the +tribunes from obstructing it. Volscius was condemned and went into +exile at Lanuvium. Quinctius laid down his dictatorship on the +sixteenth day, having been invested with it for six months. During +those days the consul Nautius engaged the Sabines at Eretum with +distinguished success: besides the devastation of their lands, this +additional blow also befell the Sabines. Fabius was sent to Algidum as +successor to Minucius. Toward the end of the year the tribunes began +to agitate concerning the law; but, because two armies were away, the +patricians carried their point, that no proposal should be made before +the people. The commons succeeded in electing the same tribunes for +the fifth time. It is said that wolves seen in the Capitol were driven +away by dogs, and that on account of that prodigy the Capitol was +purified. Such were the transactions of that year. + +Quintus Minucius and Gaius Horatius Pulvillus were the next consuls. +At the beginning of this year, when there was peace abroad, the same +tribunes and the same law occasioned disturbances at home; and matters +would have proceeded further--so highly were men's minds inflamed-had +not news been brought, as if for the very purpose, that by a night +attack of the AEquans the garrison at Corbio had been cut off. The +consuls convened the senate: they were ordered to raise a hasty levy +and to lead it to Algidum. Then, the struggle about the law being +abandoned, a new dispute arose regarding the levy. The consular +authority was on the point of being overpowered by tribunician +influence, when an additional cause of alarm arose: that the Sabine +army had made a descent upon Roman territory to commit depredations +and from thence was advancing toward the city. This fear influenced +the tribunes to allow the soldiers to be enrolled, not without a +stipulation, however, that since they themselves had been foiled for +five years, and as the present college was but inadequate protection +for the commons, ten tribunes of the people should henceforward be +elected. Necessity extorted this concession from the patricians: they +only exacted this proviso, that they should not hereafter see the same +men tribunes. The election for the tribunes was held immediately, lest +that measure also, like others, might remain unfulfilled after the +war. In the thirty-sixth year after the first tribunes, ten were +elected, two from each class; and provision was made that they should +be elected in this manner for the future. The levy being then held, +Minucius marched out against the Sabines, but found no enemy. +Horatius, when the Æquans, having put the garrison at Corbio to the +sword, had taken Ortona also, fought a battle at Algidum, in which he +slew a great number of the enemy and drove them not only from Algidum, +but from Corbio and Ortona. He also razed Corbio to the ground for +having betrayed the garrison. + +Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius were next elected consuls. +Quiet prevailed at home and abroad. The people were distressed for +provisions on account of the excessive rains. A law was proposed to +make Mount Aventine public property. [39] The same tribunes of the +people were re-elected. In the following year, Titus Romilius and +Gaius Veturius being consuls, they strongly recommended the law in all +their harangues, declaring that they were ashamed that their number +had been increased to no purpose, it that matter should be neglected +during their two years in the same manner as it had been during the +whole preceding five. While they were most busily employed in these +matters, an alarming message came from Tusculum that the Æquans were +in Tusculan territory. The recent services of that state made them +ashamed of delaying relief. Both the consuls were sent with an army, +and found the enemy in their usual post in Algidum. There a battle was +fought: upward of seven thousand of the enemy were slain, the rest +were put to flight: immense booty was obtained. This the consuls sold +on account of the low state of the treasury. This proceeding, however, +brought them into odium with the army, and also afforded the tribunes +material for bringing a charge against the consuls before the commons. +Accordingly, as soon as they went out of office, in the consulship of +Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius, a day of trial was appointed for +Romilius by Gaius Calvius Cicero, tribune of the people; for Veturius, +by Lucius Alienus plebeian ædile. They were both condemned, to the +great mortification of the patricians: Romilius to pay ten thousand +asses, Veturius fifteen thousand. Nor did this misfortune of their +predecessors render the new consuls more timid. They said that on the +one hand they might be condemned, and that on the other the commons +and tribunes could not carry the law. Then, having abandoned the +law, which, by being repeatedly brought forward, had now lost +consideration, the tribunes, adopted a milder method of proceeding +with the patricians. Let them, said they, at length put an end to +disputes. If laws drawn up by plebeians displeased them, at least let +them allow legislators to be chosen in common, both from the commons +and from the patricians, who might propose measures advantageous to +both parties, and such as would tend to the establishment of liberty +on principles of equality. The patricians did not disdain to accept +the proposal. They claimed that no one should propose laws, except +he were a patrician. When they agreed with respect to the laws, and +differed only in regard to the proposer, ambassadors were sent to +Athens, Spurius Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius +Camerinus, who were ordered to copy out the celebrated laws of Solon, +and to make themselves acquainted with the institutions, customs, and +laws of the other states of Greece. + +The year was peaceful as regards foreign wars; the following one, when +Publius Curiatius and Sextus Quinctilius were consuls, was still more +quiet, owing to the tribunes observing uninterrupted silence, which +was occasioned in the first place by their waiting for the return of +the ambassadors who had gone to Athens, and for the account of the +foreign laws; in the next place, two grievous calamities arose at the +same time, famine and pestilence, destructive to man, and equally +so to cattle. The lands were left desolate; the city exhausted by +a constant succession of deaths. Many illustrious families were in +mourning. The Flamen Quirinalis, [40]Servius Cornelius, died; also the +augur, Gaius Horatius Pulvillus; in his place the augurs elected Gaius +Veturius, and that with all the more eagerness, because he had been +condemned by the commons. The consul Quinctilius died, and four +tribunes of the people. The year was rendered a melancholy one by +these manifold disasters; as far as foreign foes were concerned there +was perfect quiet. Then Gaius Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus +were elected consuls. Nor in that year was there any foreign war: but +disturbances arose at home. The ambassadors had now returned with the +Athenian laws; the tribunes therefore insisted the more urgently that +a beginning should at length be made of compiling the laws. It was +resolved that decemvirs should be elected to rule without appeal, and +that there should be no other magistrate during that year. There +was, for a considerable time, a dispute whether plebeians should +be admitted among them: at length the point was conceded to the +patricians, provided that the Icilian law regarding the Aventine and +the other devoting laws were not repealed. + +In the three hundred and second year after the foundation of Rome, the +form of government was a second time changed, the supreme power being +transferred from consuls to decemvirs as it had passed before from +kings to consuls. The change was less remarkable, because not of long +duration; for the joyous commencement of that government afterward ran +riot through excess. On that account the sooner did the arrangement +fall to the ground, and the practice was revived, that the name and +authority of consuls should be committed to two persons. The decemvirs +appointed were, Appius Claudius, Titus Genucius, Publius Sestius, +Lucius Veturius, Gaius Julius, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius, +Publius Curiatius, Titus Romilius, Spurius Postumius. On Claudius +and Genucius, because they had been consuls elect for that year, the +honour was conferred in compensation for the honour of the consulate; +and on Sestius, one of the consuls of the former year, because he +had proposed the plan itself to the senate against the will of his +colleague. Next to these were considered the three ambassadors who had +gone to Athens, so that the honour might serve at once as a recompense +for so distant an embassy, while at the same time they considered that +persons acquainted with the foreign laws would be of use in drawing up +the new code of justice. The others made up the number. They say that +also persons advanced in years were appointed by the last suffrages, +in order that they might oppose with less warmth the opinions of +others. The direction of the entire government rested with Appius +through the favour of the commons, and he had assumed a demeanour +so different that, from being a severe and harsh persecutor of the +people, he became suddenly a courter of the commons, and strove to +catch every breath of popular favour. They administered justice to the +people individually every tenth day. On that day the twelve fasces +attended the administrator of justice; one officer attended each of +his nine colleagues, and in the midst of the singular unanimity that +existed among themselves--a harmony that sometimes proves prejudicial +to private persons--the strictest equity was shown to others. In proof +of their moderation it will be enough to instance a single case as an +example. Though they had been appointed to govern without appeal, +yet, upon a dead body being found buried in the house of Publius +Sestius,[41] a man of patrician rank, and produced in the assembly, +Gaius Julius, a decemvir, appointed a day of trial for Sestius, in a +matter at once clear and heinous, and appeared before the people +as prosecutor of the man whose lawful judge he was if accused: and +relinquished his right,[42] so that he might add what had been taken +from the power of the office to the liberty of the people. + +While highest and lowest alike obtained from them this prompt +administration of justice, undefiled, as if from an oracle, at the +same time their attention was devoted to the framing of laws; and, the +ten tables being proposed amid the intense expectation of all, they +summoned the people to an assembly: and ordered them to go and read +the laws that were exhibited, [43] and Heaven grant it might prove +favourable, advantageous, and of happy result to the commonwealth, +themselves, and their children. That they had equalized the rights of +all, both the highest and the lowest, as far as could be devised by +the abilities of ten men: that the understanding and counsels of a +greater number had greater weight; let them turn over in their minds +each particular among themselves, discuss it in conversation, and +bring forward for public discussion whatever might be superfluous or +defective under each particular: that the Roman people should have +such laws only as the general consent might appear not so much to have +ratified when proposed as to have itself proposed. When they seemed +sufficiently corrected in accordance with public opinion regarding +each section of the laws as it was published, the laws of the ten +tables were passed at the assembly voting by centuries, which, even at +the present time, amid the immense heap of laws crowded one upon +the other, still remain the source of all public and private +jurisprudence. A rumour then spread that two tables were needed, on +the addition of which a digest, as it were, of the whole Roman law +could be completed. The desire for this gave rise, as the day of +election approached, to a request that decemvirs be appointed again. +The commons by this time, besides that they detested the name +of consuls no less than that of kings, did not even require the +tribunician aid, as the decemvirs in turn allowed an appeal. + +But when the assembly for the election of decemvirs was proclaimed for +the third market-day, the flame of ambition burst out so +powerfully that even the first men of the state began to canvass +individuals--fearing, I suppose, that the possession of such high +authority might become accessible to persons not sufficiently worthy +if the post were left unoccupied by themselves--humbly soliciting, +from those very commons with whom they had often contended, an honour +which had been opposed by them with all their might. The fact of their +dignity being now laid aside in a contest, at their time of life, and +after they had filled such high official positions, stimulated the +exertions of Appius Claudius. You would not have known whether to +reckon him among the decemvirs or the candidates; he resembled at +times more closely one canvassing for office than one invested with +it; he aspersed the nobles, extolled all the most unimportant and +insignificant candidates; surrounded by the Duellii and Icilii who had +been tribunes, he himself bustled about the forum, through their means +he recommended himself to the commons; until even his colleagues, who +till then had been devoted to him heart and soul, turned their eyes on +him, wondering what he was about. It was evident to them that there +was no sincerity in it; that such affability amid such pride would +surely prove not disinterested. That this excessive lowering of +himself, and condescending to familiarity with private citizens, was +characteristic not so much of one eager to retire from office, as of +one seeking the means of continuing that office. Not daring openly to +oppose his wishes, they set about mitigating his ardour by humouring +it. They by common consent conferred on him, as being the youngest, +the office of presiding at the elections. This was an artifice, to +prevent his appointing himself; which no one ever did, except the +tribunes of the people, and that with the very worst precedent. He, +however, declaring that, with the favour of fortune, he would preside +at the elections, seized upon what should have been an obstacle as a +lucky opportunity: and having succeeded by a coalition in keeping out +of office the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, and his +own uncle Gaius Claudius, a man most steadfast in the cause of the +nobility, and other citizens of equal eminence, he secured +the appointment as decemvirs of men by no means their equals +distinction--himself in the first instance, a proceeding which +honourable men disapproved of greatly, as no one believed that he +would have ventured to do it. With him were elected Marcus Cornelius +Maluginensis, Marcus Sergius, Lucius Minucius, Quintus Fabius +Vibulanus, Quintus Poetilius, Titus Antonius Merenda, Cæso Duilius, +Spurius Oppius Cornicen, Manius Rabuleius. + +This was the end of Appius's playing a part at variance with his +disposition. Henceforward he began to live according to his natural +character, and to mould to his own temper his new colleagues before +they entered upon office. They daily held meetings in private: then, +instructed in their unruly designs, which they concocted apart from +others, now no longer dissembling their arrogance, difficult of +access, captious to all who conversed with them, they protracted the +matter until the ides of May. The ides of May was at that time the +usual period for beginning office. Accordingly, at the attainment +of their magistracy, they rendered the first day of their office +remarkable by threats that inspired great terror. For, while the +preceding decemvirs had observed the rule, that only one should have +the fasces, and that this emblem of royalty should pass to all in +rotation, to each in his turn, lo! On a sudden they all came forth, +each with twelve fasces. One hundred and twenty lictors filled the +forum, and carried before them the axes tied up with the fasces,[44] +giving the explanation that it was of no consequence that the axe +should be taken away, since they had been appointed without appeal. +There appeared to be ten kings, and terrors were multiplied not only +among the humblest individuals, but even among the principal men +of the patricians, who thought that an excuse for the beginning of +bloodshed was being sought for: so that, if any one should have +uttered a word that hinted at liberty, either in the senate or in +a meeting of the people, the rods and axes would also instantly be +brought forward, for the purpose of intimidating the rest. For, +besides that there was no protection in the people, as the right of +appeal had been abolished, they had also by mutual consent prohibited +interference with each other: whereas the preceding decemvirs had +allowed the decisions pronounced by themselves to be amended by appeal +to any one of their colleagues, and had referred to the people some +points which seemed naturally to come within their own jurisdiction. +For a considerable time the terror seemed equally distributed among +all ranks; gradually it began to be directed entirely against the +commons. While they spared the patricians, arbitrary and cruel +measures were taken against the lower classes. As being persons with +whom interest usurped the force of justice, they all took account of +persons rather than of causes. They concerted their decisions at home, +and pronounced them in the forum. If any one appealed to a colleague, +he departed from the one to whom he had appealed in such a manner that +he regretted that he had not abided by the sentence of the former. An +irresponsible rumour had also gone abroad that they had conspired in +their tyranny not only for the present time, but that a clandestine +league had been concluded among them on oath, that they would not hold +the comitia, but by perpetuating the decemvirate would retain supreme +power now that it had once come into their possession. + +The plebeians then began narrowly to watch the countenances of the +patricians, and to strive to catch a glimpse of liberty from that +quarter, by apprehending slavery from which they had brought the +republic into its present condition. The leading members of the senate +detested the decemvirs, detested the commons; they neither approved of +what was going on, and they considered that what befell the latter was +not undeserved. They were unwilling to assist men who, by rushing too +eagerly toward liberty, had fallen into slavery: they even heaped +injuries on them, that, from disgust at the present state of things, +two consuls and the former constitution might at length be regretted. +By this time the greater part of the year had passed, and two tables +of laws had been added to the ten tables of the former year; and if +these laws also had been passed in the assembly of the centuries, +there would now have remained no reason why the republic should +require that form of government. They were anxiously waiting to see +how long it would be before the assembly would be proclaimed for the +election of consuls. The only thing that troubled the commons was +by what means they should re-establish the tribunician power, that +bulwark of their liberty, now so long discontinued, no mention in the +meantime being made of the elections. Further, the decemvirs, who +had at first exhibited themselves to the people surrounded by men +of tribunician rank, because that was deemed popular, now guarded +themselves by bands of young patricians: crowds of these beset the +tribunals. They harried the commons, and plundered their effects: when +fortune was on the side of the more powerful individual in regard to +whatever was coveted. And now they spared not even their persons: some +were beaten with rods, others had to submit to the axe; and, that such +cruelty might not go unrewarded, a grant of his effects followed the +punishment of the owner. Corrupted by such bribes, the young nobles +not only made no opposition to oppression, but openly avowed a +preference for their own selfish gratification rather than for the +liberty of all. + +The ides of May came round. Without any magistrates being elected +in place of those retiring, private persons [45]came forward as +decemvirs, without any abatement either in their determination to +enforce their authority, or any alteration in the insignia displayed +as outward signs of office. That indeed seemed undoubted regal +tyranny. Liberty was now deplored as lost forever: no champion of it +stood forth, or seemed likely to do so. And not only were the Romans +themselves sunk in despondency, but they began to be looked down upon +by the neighbouring states, who felt indignant that sovereign power +should be in the hands of a state where liberty did not exist. The +Sabines with a numerous body of men made an incursion into Roman +territory; and having committed extensive devastations, after they had +driven off with impunity booty of men and cattle, they recalled their +troops, which had been dispersed in different directions, to +Eretum, where they pitched their camp, grounding their hopes on the +dissensions at Rome, which they expected would prove an obstruction to +the levy. Not only the couriers, but also the flight of the country +people through the city inspired them with alarm. The decemvirs, left +in a dilemma between the hatred of the patricians and people, took +counsel what was to be done. Fortune, moreover, brought an additional +cause of alarm. The AEquans on the opposite side pitched their camp at +Algidum, and by raids from there ravaged Tusculan territory. News of +this was brought by ambassadors from Tusculum imploring assistance. +The panic thereby occasioned urged the decemvirs to consult the +senate, now that two wars at once threatened the city. They ordered +the patricians to be summoned into the senate-house, well aware what a +storm of resentment was ready to break upon them; they felt that all +would heap upon them the blame for the devastation of their territory, +and for the dangers that threatened; and that that would give them an +opportunity of endeavouring to abolish their office, if they did not +unite in resisting, and by enforcing their authority with severity on +a few who showed an intractable spirit repress the attempts of others. +When the voice of the crier was heard in the forum summoning the +senators into the senate-house to the presence of the decemvirs, this +proceeding, as altogether new, because they had long since given up +the custom of consulting the senate, attracted the attention of the +people, who, full of surprise, wanted to know what had happened, and +why, after so long an interval they were reviving a custom that had +fallen into abeyance: stating that they ought to thank the enemy and +the war, that any of the customs of a free state were complied with. +They looked around for a senator through all parts of the forum, and +seldom recognised one anywhere: they then directed their attention to +the senate-house, and to the solitude around the decemvirs, who both +themselves judged that their power was universally detested, while the +commons were of opinion that the senators refused to assemble because +the decemvirs, now reduced to the rank of private citizens, had no +authority to convene them: that a nucleus was now formed of those who +would help them to recover their liberty, if the commons would but +side with the senate, and if, as the patricians, when summoned, +refused to attend the senate, so also the commons would refuse to +enlist. Thus the commons grumbled. There was hardly one of the +patricians in the forum, and but very few in the city. In disgust at +the state of affairs, they had retired into the country, and busied +themselves only with their private affairs, giving up all thought of +state concerns, considering that they themselves were out of reach +of ill-treatment in proportion as they removed themselves from the +meeting and converse of their imperious masters. When those who had +been summoned did not assemble, state messengers were despatched to +their houses, both to levy the penalties,[46] and to make inquiries +whether they purposely refused to attend. They brought back word +that the senate was in the country. This was more pleasing to the +decemvirs, than if they brought word that they were present and +refused obedience to their commands. They commanded them all to be +summoned, and proclaimed a meeting of the senate for the following +day, which assembled in much greater numbers than they themselves had +expected. By this proceeding the commons considered that their liberty +was betrayed by the patricians, because the senate had obeyed those +persons, as if they had a right to compel them, who had already gone +out of office, and were mere private individuals, were it not for the +violence displayed by them. + +However, they showed more obedience in coming into the senate than +obsequiousness in the opinions expressed by them, as we have learned. +It is recorded that, after Appius Claudius laid the subject of debate +before the meeting, and before their opinions were asked in order, +Lucius Valerius Potitus excited a commotion, by demanding permission +to express his sentiments concerning the state, and--when the +decemvirs prevented him with threats [47]--by declaring that he would +present himself before the people. It is also recorded that Marcus +Horatius Barbatus entered the lists with no less boldness, calling +them "ten Tarquins," and reminding them that under the leadership of +the Valerii and Horatii the kings had been expelled. Nor was it the +mere name that men were then disgusted with, as being that by which it +was proper that Jupiter should be styled, as also Romulus, the founder +of the city, and the succeeding kings, and a name too which had been +retained also for the ceremonies of religion,[48] as a solemn one; +that it was the tyranny and arrogance of a king they then detested: +and if these were not to be tolerated in that same king or the son of +a king, who would tolerate it in so many private citizens? Let them +beware lest, by preventing persons from expressing their sentiments +freely in the senate, they obliged them to raise their voice outside +the senate-house. Nor could he see how it was less allowable for him, +a private citizen, to summon the people to an assembly, than for them +to convene the senate. They might try, whenever they pleased, how much +more determined a sense of wrong would be found to be, when it was a +question of vindicating one's own liberty, than ambition, when the +object was to preserve an unjust dominion. That they proposed the +question concerning the war with the Sabines, as if the Roman people +had any more important war on hand than that against those who, having +been elected for the purpose of framing laws, had left no law in the +state; who had abolished elections, annual magistrates, the regular +change of rulers, which was the only means of equalizing liberty; +who, though private citizens, still possessed the fasces and regal +dominion. That after the expulsion of the kings, patrician magistrates +had been appointed, and subsequently, after the secession of the +people, plebeian magistrates. What party was it, he asked, to which +they belonged? To the popular party? What had they ever done with the +concurrence of the people? To the party of the nobles? Who for now +nearly an entire year had not held a meeting of the senate, and then +held one in such a manner that they prevented the expression of +sentiments regarding the commonwealth? Let them not place too much +hope in the fears of others; the grievances which they were now +suffering appeared to men more oppressive than any they might +apprehend. + +While Horatius was exclaiming thus and the decemvirs could not +discover the proper bounds either of their anger or forbearance, nor +saw how the matter would end, Gaius Claudius, who was the uncle +of Appius the decemvir, delivered an address more in the style of +entreaty than reproach, beseeching him by the shade of his brother and +of his father, that he would hold in recollection the civil society +in which he had been born, rather than the confederacy nefariously +entered into with his colleagues, adding that he besought this much +more on Appius's own account, than for the sake of the commonwealth. +For the commonwealth would claim its rights in spite of them, if it +could not obtain them with their consent: that however, from a great +contest great animosities were generally aroused: it was the result of +the latter that he dreaded. Though the decemvirs forbade them to speak +on any subject save that which they had submitted to them, they felt +too much respect for Claudius to interrupt him He therefore concluded +the expression of his opinion by moving that it was their wish that no +decree of the senate should be passed. And all understood the matter +thus, that they were judged by Claudius to be private citizens;[49] +and many of those of consular standing expressed their assent in +words. Another measure, more severe in appearance, which ordered the +patricians to assemble to nominate an interrex, in reality had much +less force; for by this motion the mover gave expression to a decided +opinion that those persons were magistrates of some kind or other who +might hold a meeting of the senate, while he who recommended that +no decree of the senate should be passed, had thereby declared them +private citizens. When the cause of the decemvirs was now failing, +Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of Marcus Cornelius the +decemvir, having been purposely reserved from among those of consular +rank to close the debate, by affecting an anxiety about the war, +defended his brother and his colleagues by declaring that he wondered +by what fatality it had occurred, that those who had been candidates +for the decemvirate, either these or their friends, had above all +others attacked the decemvirs: or why, when no one had disputed for +so many months while the state was free from anxiety, whether legal +magistrates were at the head of affairs, they now at length sowed +the seeds of civil discord, when the enemy were nearly at the gates, +except it were that in a state of confusion they thought that their +object would be less clearly seen through. For the rest, it was unfair +that any one should prejudge a matter of such importance, while their +minds were occupied with a more momentous concern. It was his opinion +that, in regard to what Valerius and Horatius alleged--that the +decemvirs had gone out of office before the ides of May--the matter +should be discussed in the senate and left to them to decide, when the +wars which were now impending were over, and the commonwealth restored +to tranquility, and that Appius Claudius was even now preparing to +take notice that an account had to be rendered by him of the election +which he himself as decemvir held for electing decemvirs, whether they +were elected for one year, or until the laws, which were wanting, +were ratified. It was his opinion that all other matters should be +disregarded for the present, except the war; and if they thought that +the reports regarding it were propagated without foundation, and that +not only the messengers but also the ambassadors of the Tusculans had +stated what was false, he thought that scouts should be dispatched to +bring back more certain information; but if credit were given both to +the messengers and the ambassadors, that the levy should be held at +the very earliest opportunity; that the decemvirs should lead the +armies, whither each thought proper: and that no other matter should +take precedence. + +The junior patricians almost succeeded in getting this resolution +passed on a division. Accordingly, Valerius and Horatius, rising again +with greater vehemence, loudly demanded that it should be allowed them +to express their sentiments concerning the republic; that they would +address a meeting of the people, if owing to party efforts they were +not allowed to do so in the senate: for that private individuals, +whether in the senate or in a general assembly, could not prevent +them: nor would they yield to their imaginary fasces. Appius, now +considering that the crisis was already nigh at hand, when their +authority would be overpowered, unless the violence of these were +resisted with equal boldness, said, "It will be better for you not to +utter a word on any subject, except the subject of discussion"; +and against Valerius, when he refused to be silent for a private +individual, he commanded a lictor to proceed. When Valerius, from +the threshold of the senate-house, now craved the protection of the +citizens, Lucius Cornelius, embracing Appius, put an end to the +struggle, not in reality consulting the interest of him whose interest +he pretended to consult;[50] and after permission to say what he +pleased had been obtained for Valerius by means of Cornelius, when +this liberty did not extend beyond words, the decemvirs attained their +object. The men of consular rank also and senior members, from the +hatred of tribunician power still rankling in their bosoms, the +longing for which they considered was much more keenly felt by the +commons than for the consular power, almost preferred that the +decemvirs themselves should voluntarily resign their office at some +future period, than that the people should once more become prominent +through hatred against these. If the matter, quietly conducted, should +again return to the consuls without popular turbulence, that the +commons might be induced to forget their tribunes, either by the +intervention of wars or by the moderation of the consuls in exercising +their authority. + +A levy was proclaimed without objection on the part of the patricians; +the young men answered to their names, as the government was without +appeal. The legions having been enrolled, the decemvirs proceeded to +arrange among themselves who should set out to the war, who should +command the armies. The leading men among the decemvirs were Quintus +Fabius and Appius Claudius. The war at home appeared more serious than +abroad. The decemvirs considered the violence of Appius better +suited to suppress commotions in the city; that Fabius possessed +a disposition rather lacking in firmness in a good purpose than +energetic in a bad one. For this man, formerly distinguished at home +and abroad, had been so altered by his office of decemvir and the +influence of his colleagues that he chose rather to be like Appius +than like himself. To him the war among the Sabines was intrusted, +Manius Rabuleius and Quintus Paetilius being sent with him as +colleagues. Marcus Cornelius was sent to Algidum with Lucius Minucius, +Titus Antonius, Caeso Duillius, and Marcus Sergius: they appointed +Spurius Oppius to assist Appius Claudius in protecting the city, while +all the decemvirs were to enjoy equal authority. + +The republic was managed with no better success in war than at home. +In this the only fault in the generals was, that they had rendered +themselves objects of hatred to their fellow-citizens: in other +respects the entire blame lay with the soldiers, who, lest any +enterprise should be successfully conducted under the leadership and +auspices of the decemvirs, suffered themselves to be beaten, to their +own disgrace and that of their generals. Their armies were routed both +by the Sabines at Eretum, and by the Æquans in Algidum. Fleeing from +Eretum during the silence of the night, they fortified their camp +nearer the city, on an elevated position between Fidenae and +Crustumeria; nowhere encountering on equal ground the enemy who +pursued them, they protected themselves by the nature of the ground +and a rampart, not by valour or arms. Their conduct was more +disgraceful, and greater loss also was sustained in Algidum; their +camp too was lost, and the soldiers, stripped of all their arms, +munitions, and supplies, betook themselves to Tusculum, determined to +procure the means of subsistence from the good faith and compassion of +their hosts, and in these, notwithstanding their conduct, they were +not disappointed. Such alarming accounts were brought to Rome, that +the patricians, having now laid aside their hatred of the decemvirs, +passed an order that watches should be held in the city, and commanded +that all who were not hindered by reason of their age from carrying +arms, should mount guard on the walls, and form outposts before the +gates; they also voted that arms should be sent to Tusculum, besides +a re-enforcement; and that the decemvirs should come down from the +citadel of Tusculum and keep their troops encamped; that the other +camp should be removed from Fidenas into Sabine territory, and the +enemy, by their thus attacking them first, should be deterred from +entertaining any idea of assaulting the city. + +In addition to the reverses sustained at the hands of the enemy, the +decemvirs were guilty of two monstrous deeds, one abroad, and the +other in the city. They sent Lucius Siccius, who was quartered among +the Sabines, to take observations for the purpose of selecting a site +for a camp: he, availing himself of the unpopularity of the decemvirs, +was introducing, in his secret conversations with the common soldiers, +suggestions of a secession and the election of tribunes: the soldiers, +whom they had sent to accompany him in that expedition, were +commissioned to attack him in a convenient place and slay him. They +did not kill him with impunity; several of the assassins fell around +him, as he offered resistance, since, possessing great personal +strength and displaying courage equal to that strength, he defended +himself against them, although surrounded. The rest brought news into +the camp that Siccius, while fighting bravely, had fallen into an +ambush, and that some soldiers had been lost with him. At first the +account was believed; afterward a party of men, who went by permission +of the decemvirs to bury those who had fallen, when they observed that +none of the bodies there were stripped, and that Siccius lay in the +midst fully armed, and that all the bodies were turned toward him, +while there was neither the body of any of the enemy, nor any traces +of their departure, brought back his body, saying that he had +assuredly been slain by his own men. The camp was now filled with +indignation, and it was resolved that Siccius should be forthwith +brought to Rome, had not the decemvirs hastened to bury him with +military honours at the public expense. He was buried amid the great +grief of the soldiery, and with the worst possible infamy of the +decemvirs among the common people. + +Another monstrous deed followed in the city, originating in lust, and +attended by results not less tragical than that deed which had brought +about the expulsion of the Tarquins from the city and the throne +through the violation and death of Lucretia: so that the decemvirs not +only came to the same end as the kings, but the reason also of their +losing their power was the same. Appius Claudius was seized with a +criminal passion for violating the person of a young woman of plebeian +rank. Lucius Verginius, the girl's father, held an honourable +rank among the centurions at Algidum, a man who was a pattern of +uprightness both at home and in the service. His wife and children +were brought up in the same manner. He had betrothed his daughter to +Lucius Icilius, who had been tribune, a man of spirit and of approved +zeal in the interest of the people. Appius, burning with desire, +attempted to seduce by bribes and promises this young woman, now grown +up, and of distinguished beauty; and when he perceived that all the +avenues of his lust were barred by modesty, he turned his thoughts to +cruel and tyrannical violence. Considering that, as the girl's father +was absent, there was an opportunity for committing the wrong; he +instructed a dependent of his, Marcus Claudius, to claim the girl as +his slave, and not to yield to those who demanded her enjoyment of +liberty pending judgment. The tool of the decemvir's lust laid hands +on the girl as she was coming into the forum--for there the elementary +schools were held in booths--calling her the daughter of his slave and +a slave herself, and commanded her to follow him, declaring that he +would drag her off by force if she demurred. The girl being struck +dumb with terror, a crowd collected at the cries of her nurse, who +besought the protection of the citizens. The popular names of her +father, Verginius, and of her betrothed, Icilius, were in every one's +mouth. Esteem for them gained the good-will of their acquaintances, +the heinousness of the proceeding, that of the crowd. She was now +safe from violence, forasmuch as the claimant said that there was no +occasion for rousing the mob; that he was proceeding by law, not by +force. He summoned the girl into court. Her supporters advising her +to follow him, they reached the tribunal of Appius. The claimant +rehearsed the farce well known to the judge, as being in presence of +the actual author of the plot, that the girl, born in his house, and +clandestinely transferred from thence to the house of Verginius, had +been fathered on the latter: that what he stated was established +by certain evidence, and that he would prove it, even if Verginius +himself, who would be the principal sufferer, were judge: that +meanwhile it was only fair the servant should accompany her master. +The supporters of Verginia, after they had urged that Verginius was +absent on business of the state, that he would be present in two days +if word were sent to him, and that it was unfair that in his absence +he should run any risk regarding his children, demanded that Appius +should adjourn the whole matter till the arrival of the father; that +he should allow the claim for her liberty pending judgment according +to the law passed by himself, and not allow a maiden of ripe age to +encounter the risk of her reputation before that of her liberty. + +Appius prefaced his decision by observing that the very same law, +which the friends of Verginius put forward as the plea of their +demand, showed how strongly he himself was in favour of liberty: that +liberty, however, would find secure protection in the law on this +condition only, that it varied neither with respect to cases or +persons. For with respect to those individuals who were claimed as +free, that point of law was good, because any citizen could proceed by +law in such a matter: but in the case of her who was in the hands of +her father, there was no other person in whose favour her master need +relinquish his right of possession.[51] That it was his decision, +therefore, that her father should be sent for: that, in the meantime, +the claimant should not be deprived of the right, which allowed him +to carry off the girl with him, at the same time promising that she +should be produced on the arrival of him who was called her father. +When there were many who murmured against the injustice of this +decision rather than any one individual who ventured to protest +against it, the girl's great-uncle, Publius Numitorius, and her +betrothed, Icilius, appeared on the scene: and, way being made for +them through the crowd, the multitude thinking that Appius could be +most effectually resisted by the intervention of Icilius, the lictor +declared that he had decided the matter, and attempted to remove +Icilius, when he began to raise his voice. Such a monstrous injustice +would have fired even a cool temper. "By the sword, Appius," said he, +"must I be removed hence, that you may secure silence about that which +you wish to be concealed. This young woman I am about to marry, to +have and to hold as my lawful wife. Wherefore call together all the +lictors of your colleagues also; order the rods and axes to be got +ready: the betrothed wife of Icilius shall not pass the night outside +her father's house. No: though you have taken from us the aid of our +tribunes, and the power of appeal to the commons of Rome, the two +bulwarks for the maintenance of our liberty, absolute authority has +not therefore been given to your lust over our wives and children. +Vent your fury on our backs and necks; let chastity at least be +secure. If violence shall be offered to her, I shall implore the +protection of the citizens here present on behalf of my betrothed, +Verginius that of the soldiers on behalf of his only daughter, all of +us the protection of gods and men, nor shall you carry that sentence +into effect without our blood. I demand of you, Appius, consider again +and again to what lengths you are proceeding. Verginius, when he +comes, will see to it, what conduct he is to pursue with respect to +his daughter: only let him be assured of this, that if he yields to +the claims of this man, he will have to look out for another match for +his daughter. As for my part, in vindicating the liberty of my spouse, +life shall leave me sooner than honour." + +The multitude was now roused, and a contest seemed threatening. The +lictors had taken their stand around Icilius; they did not, however, +proceed beyond threats, while Appius said that it was not Verginia who +was being defended by Icilius, but that, being a restless man, and +even now breathing the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an +opportunity for creating a disturbance. That he would not afford him +the chance of doing so on that day; but in order that he might now +know that the concession had been made not to his petulance, but to +the absent Verginius, to the name of father and to liberty, that he +would not decide the case on that day, nor introduce a decree: that he +would request Marcus Claudius to forego somewhat of his right, and to +suffer the girl to be bailed till the next day. However, unless the +father attended on the following day, he gave notice to Icilius and to +men like Icilius, that, as the framer of it, he would maintain his own +law, as a decemvir, his firmness: that he would certainly not assemble +the lictors of his colleagues to put down the promoters of sedition; +that he would be content with his own. When the time of this act +of injustice had been deferred, and the friends of the maiden had +retired, it was first of all determined that the brother of Icilius, +and the son of Numitorius, both active young men, should proceed +thence straight to the city gate, and that Verginius should be +summoned from the camp with all possible haste: that the safety of the +girl depended on his being present next day at the proper time, to +protect her from wrong. They proceeded according to directions, and +galloping at full speed, carried the news to her father. When the +claimant of the maiden was pressing Icilius to lay claim to her, and +give bail for her appearance, and Icilius said that that was the very +thing that was being done, purposely wasting the time, until the +messengers sent to the camp should finish their journey, the multitude +raised their hands on all sides, and every one showed himself ready +to go surety for Icilius. And he, with his eyes full of tears, said: +"This is a great favour; to-morrow I will avail myself of your +assistance: at present I have sufficient sureties." Thus Verginia was +bailed on the security of her relations. Appius, having delayed a +short time, that he might not appear to have sat on account of that +case alone, when no one made application to him, all other concerns +being set aside owing to the interest displayed in this one case, +betook himself home, and wrote to his colleague in the camp, not +to grant leave of absence to Verginius, and even to keep him in +confinement. This wicked scheme was too late, as it deserved: for +Verginius, having already obtained his leave had set out at the first +watch, while the letter regarding his detention was delivered on the +following morning without effect. + +But in the city, at daybreak, when the citizens were standing in the +forum on the tiptoe of expectation, Verginius, clad in mourning, +conducted his daughter, also shabbily attired, attended by some +matrons, into the forum, with a considerable body of supporters. He +there began to go around and solicit people: and not only entreated +their aid given out of kindness, but demanded it as a right: saying +that he stood daily in the field of battle in defence of their wives +and children, nor was there any other man, whose brave and intrepid +deeds in war could be recorded in greater numbers. What availed it, +if, while the city was secure from dangers, their children had to +endure these calamities, which were the worst that could be dreaded if +it were taken? Uttering these words just like one delivering a public +harangue, he solicited the people individually. Similar arguments were +put forward by Icilius: the attendant throng of women produced more +effect by their silent tears than any words. With a mind stubbornly +proof against all this--such an attack of frenzy, rather than of love, +had perverted his mind--Appius ascended the tribunal, and when the +claimant went on to complain briefly, that justice had not been +administered to him on the preceding day through party influence, +before either he could go through with his claim, or an opportunity of +reply was afforded to Verginius, Appius interrupted him. The preamble +with which he prefaced his decision, ancient authors may have handed +down perhaps with some degree of truth; but since I nowhere find any +that is probable in the case of so scandalous a decision, I think it +best to state the bare fact, which is generally admitted, that he +passed a sentence consigning her to slavery. At first a feeling of +bewilderment astounded all, caused by amazement at so heinous a +proceeding: then for some time silence prevailed. Then, when Marcus +Claudius proceeded to seize the maiden, while the matrons stood +around, and was met by the piteous lamentations of the women, +Verginius, menacingly stretching forth his hands toward Appius, said: +"To Icilius, and not to you, Appius, have I betrothed my daughter, and +for matrimony, not for prostitution, have I brought her up. Would +you have men gratify their lust promiscuously, like cattle and wild +beasts? Whether these persons will endure such things, I know not; I +do not think that those will do so who have arms in their hands." +When the claimant of the girl was repulsed by the crowd of women and +supporters who were standing around her, silence was proclaimed by the +crier. + +The decemvir, as if he had lost his reason owing to his passion, +stated that not only from Icilius's abusive harangue of the day +before, and the violence of Verginius, of which he could produce the +entire Roman people as witnesses, but from authentic information +also he had ascertained that secret meetings were held in the city +throughout the night with the object of stirring up sedition: that +he, accordingly, being aware of that danger, had come down with armed +soldiers, not to molest any peaceable person, but in order to punish, +as the majesty of the government demanded, those who disturbed the +tranquility of the state. "It will, therefore," said he, "be better to +remain quiet: go, lictor, disperse the crowd, and clear the way for +the master to lay hold of his slave." After he had thundered out these +words, full of wrath, the multitude of their own accord dispersed, and +the girl stood deserted, a sacrifice to injustice. Then Verginius, +when he saw no aid anywhere, said: "I beg you, Appius, first pardon a +father's grief, if I have attacked you too harshly: in the next place, +suffer me to ask the nurse here in presence of the maiden, what all +this means, that, if I have been falsely called her father, I may +depart hence with mind more tranquil." Permission having been granted, +he drew the girl and the nurse aside to the booths near the chapel +of Cloacina,[52] which now go by the name of the New Booths:[53] and +there, snatching a knife from a butcher, "In this, the only one way I +can, my daughter," said he, "do I secure to you your liberty." He +then plunged it into the girl's breast, and looking back toward the +tribunal, said "With this blood I devote thee,[54] Appius, and thy +head!" Appius, aroused by the cry raised at so dreadful a deed, +ordered Verginius to be seized. He, armed with the knife, cleared the +way whithersoever he went, until, protected by the crowd of persons +attending him, he reached the gate. Icilius and Numitorius took up the +lifeless body and showed it to the people; they deplored the villainy +of Appius, the fatal beauty of the maiden, and the cruel lot of the +father.[55] The matrons, following, cried out: Was this the condition +of rearing children? Were these the rewards of chastity? And other +things which female grief on such occasions suggests, when their +complaints are so much the more affecting, in proportion as their +grief is more intense from their want of self-control. The men, and +more especially Icilius, spoke of nothing but the tribunician power, +and the right of appeal to the people which had been taken from them, +and gave vent to their indignation in regard to the condition of +public affairs. + +The multitude was excited partly by the heinousness of the misdeed, +partly by the hope of recovering their liberty on a favourable +opportunity. Appius first ordered Icilius to be summoned before +him, then, when he refused to come, to be seized: finally, when the +officers were not allowed an opportunity of approaching him, he +himself, proceeding through the crowd with a body of young patricians, +ordered him to be led away to prison. Now not only the multitude, but +Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, the leaders of the multitude, +stood around Icilius and, having repulsed the lictor, declared, that, +if Appius should proceed according to law, they would protect Icilius +from one who was but a private citizen; if he should attempt to employ +force, that even in that case they would be no unequal match for him. +Hence arose a violent quarrel. The decemvir's lictor attacked Valerius +and Horatius: the fasces were broken by the people. Appius ascended +the tribunal; Horatius and Valerius followed him. They were +attentively listened to by the assembly: the voice of the decemvir was +drowned with clamour. Now Valerius, as if he possessed the authority +to do so, was ordering the lictors to depart from one who was but a +private citizen, when Appius, whose spirits were now broken, alarmed +for his life, betook himself into a house in the vicinity of the +forum, unobserved by his enemies, with his head covered up. Spurius +Oppius, in order to assist his colleague, rushed into the forum by the +opposite side: he saw their authority overpowered by force. Distracted +then by various counsels and by listening to several advisers from +every side, he had become hopelessly confused: eventually he ordered +the senate to be convened. Because the official acts of the decemvirs +seemed displeasing to the greater portion of the patricians, this +step quieted the people with the hope that the government would be +abolished through the senate. The senate was of opinion that the +commons should not be stirred up, and that much more effectual +measures should be taken lest the arrival of Verginius should cause +any commotion in the army. + +Accordingly, some of the junior patricians, being sent to the camp +which was at that time on Mount Vecilius, announced to the decemvirs +that they should do their utmost to keep the soldiers from mutinying. +There Verginius occasioned greater commotion than he had left behind +him in the city. For besides that he was seen coming with a body +of nearly four hundred men, who, enraged in consequence of the +disgraceful nature of the occurrence, had accompanied him from the +city, the unsheathed knife, and his being himself besmeared with +blood, attracted to him the attention of the entire camp; and the +gowns,[56] seen in many parts of the camp had caused the number of +people from the city to appear much greater than it really was. When +they asked him what was the matter, in consequence of his weeping, for +a long time he did not utter a word. At length, as soon as the crowd +of those running together became quiet after the disturbance, and +silence ensued, he related everything in order as it had occurred. + +Then extending his hands toward heaven, addressing his +fellow-soldiers, he begged of them, not to impute to him that which +was the crime of Appius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer of +his child. To him the life of his daughter was dearer than his own, if +she had been allowed to live in freedom and chastity. When he beheld +her dragged to prostitution as if she were a slave, thinking it better +that his child should be lost by death rather than by dishonour, +through compassion for her he had apparently fallen into cruelty. Nor +would he have survived his daughter had he not entertained the hope of +avenging her death by the aid of his fellow-soldiers. For they too had +daughters, sisters, and wives; nor was the lust of Appius Claudius +extinguished with his daughter; but in proportion as it escaped with +greater impunity, so much the more unbridled would it be. That by the +calamity of another a warning was given to them to guard against a +similar injury. As far as he was concerned, his wife had been taken +from him by destiny; his daughter, because she could no longer have +lived as a chaste woman, had met with an unfortunate but honourable +death; that there was now no longer in his family an opportunity for +the lust of Appius; that from any other violence of his he would +defend his person with the same spirit with which he had vindicated +that of his daughter: that others should take care for themselves and +their children. While he uttered these words in a loud voice, the +multitude responded with a shout that they would not be backward, +either to avenge his wrongs or to defend their own liberty. And the +civilians mixing with the crowd of soldiers, by uttering the same +complaints, and by showing how much more shocking these things must +have appeared when seen than when merely heard of, and also by telling +them that the disturbance at Rome was now almost over--and others +having subsequently arrived who asserted that Appius, having with +difficulty escaped with life, had gone into exile--all these +individuals so far influenced them that there was a general cry to +arms, and having pulled up the standards, they set out for Rome. The +decemvirs, being alarmed at the same time both by what they now saw, +as well as by what they had heard had taken place at Rome, ran about +to different parts of the camp to quell the commotion. While they +proceeded with mildness no answer was returned to them: if any of them +attempted to exert authority, the soldiers replied that they were men +and were armed. They proceeded in a body to the city and occupied the +Aventine, encouraging the commons, as each person met them, recover +their liberty, and elect tribunes of the people; no other expression +of violence was heard. Spurius Oppius held a meeting of the senate; +it was resolved that no harsh measures should be adopted, inasmuch as +occasion for sedition had been given by themselves.[57] Three men of +consular rank, Spurius Tarpeius, Gaius Julius, Publius Sulpicius, were +sent as ambassadors, to inquire, in the name of the senate, by whose +order they had deserted the camp? Or what they meant by having +occupied the Aventine in arms, and, turning away their arms from the +enemy, having seized their own country? They were at no loss for an +answer: but they wanted some one to give the answer, there being as +yet no certain leader, and individuals were not bold enough to expose +themselves to the invidious office. The multitude only cried out with +one accord, that they should send Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius +to them, saying that they would give their answer to them. + +The ambassadors being dismissed, Verginius reminded the soldiers that +a little while before they had been embarrassed in a matter of no very +great difficulty, because the multitude was without a head; and that +the answer given, though not inexpedient, was the result rather of an +accidental agreement than of a concerted plan. His opinion was, that +ten persons should be elected to preside over the management of state +affairs, and that they should be called tribunes of the soldiers, a +title suited to their military dignity. When that honour was offered +to himself in the first instance, he replied, "Reserve for an occasion +more favourable to both of us your kind recognition of me. The fact of +my daughter being unavenged, does not allow any office to be agreeable +to me, nor, in the present disturbed condition of the state, is it +advantageous that those should be at your head who are most exposed to +party animosity. If I am of any use, the benefit to be gained from my +services will be just as great while I am a private individual." They +accordingly elected military tribunes ten in number. + +Meanwhile the army among the Sabines was not inactive. There also, at +the instance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession from the decemvirs +took place, men's minds being no less moved when they recalled to mind +the murder of Siccius, than when they were fired with rage at the +recent account of the disgraceful attempt made on the maiden to +gratify lust. When Icilius heard that tribunes of the soldiers had +been elected on the Aventine, lest the election assembly in the city +should follow the precedent of the military assembly, by electing the +same persons tribunes of the commons, being well versed in popular +intrigues and having an eye to that office himself, he also took care, +before they proceeded to the city, that the same number should be +elected by his own party with equal power. They entered the city by +the Colline gate under their standards, and proceeded in a body to the +Aventine through the midst of the city. There, joining the other army, +they commissioned the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to select two +out of their number to preside over state affairs. They elected Marcus +Oppius and Sextus Manilius. The patricians, alarmed for the general +safety, though there was a meeting of the senate every day, wasted the +time in wrangling more frequently than in deliberation. The murder of +Siccius, the lust of Appius, and the disgraces incurred in war were +urged as charges against the decemvirs. It was resolved that Valerius +and Horatius should proceed to the Aventine. They refused to go on any +other condition than that the decemvirs should lay down the badges of +that office, which they had resigned at the end of the previous year. +The decemvirs, complaining that they were now being degraded, declared +that they would not resign their office until those laws, for the sake +of which they had been appointed, were passed. + +The people being informed by Marcus Duillius, who had been tribune of +the people, that by reason of their continual contentions no business +was transacted, passed from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, as +Duillius asserted that no concern for business would enter the minds +of the patricians, until they saw the city deserted: that the Sacred +Mount would remind them of the people's firmness: that they would then +know that matters could not be brought back to harmony without the +restoration of the tribunician power. Having set out along the +Nomentan way, which was then called the Ficulean,[58] they pitched +their camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the moderation of their +fathers by committing no violence. The commons followed the army, +no one whose age would permit him declining to go. Their wives and +children attended them, piteously asking to whom they were leaving +them, in a city where neither chastity nor liberty were respected. +When the unusual solitude had created everywhere at Rome a feeling +of desolation; when there was no one in the forum but a few old men: +when, after the patricians had been summoned into the senate, the +forum appeared deserted, by this time more besides Horatius and +Valerius began to exclaim, "What will you now wait for, conscript +fathers? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their obstinacy, will +you suffer all things to go to wreck and ruin? What power is that of +yours, decemvirs, which you embrace and hold so firmly? Do you mean to +administer justice to walls and houses? Are you not ashamed that an +almost greater number of your lictors is to be seen in the forum than +of the other citizens? What are you going to do, in case the enemy +should approach the city? What, if the commons should come presently +in arms, in case we show ourselves little affected by their secession? +Do you mean to end your power by the fall of the city? Well, then, +either we must not have the commons, or they must have their tribunes. +We shall sooner be able to dispense with our patrician magistrates, +than they with their plebeian. That power, when new and untried, +they wrested from our fathers; much less will they now, when once +captivated by its charm, endure the loss of: more especially since we +do not behave with such moderation in the exercise of our power that +they are in no need of the aid of the tribunes." When these arguments +were thrown out from every quarter, the decemvirs, overpowered by the +united opinions of all, declared that, since such seemed to be the +feeling, they would submit to the authority of the patricians. All +they asked for themselves was that they might be protected from +popular odium; they warned the senate, that they should not, by +shedding their blood, habituate the people to inflict punishment on +the patricians. + +Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to bring back the people +on such terms as might seem fit, and to adjust all differences, were +directed to make provision also to protect the decemvirs from the +resentment and violence of the multitude. They set forth and were +received into the camp amid the great joy of the people, as their +undoubted liberators, both at the beginning of the disturbance and +at the termination of the matter. In consideration of these things, +thanks were returned to them on their arrival. Icilius delivered +a speech in the name of the people. When the terms came to be +considered, on the ambassadors inquiring what the demands of the +people were, he also, having already concerted the plan before the +arrival of the ambassadors, made such demands, that it became evident +that more hope was placed in the justice of their case than in arms. +For they demanded the restoration of the tribunician office and the +right of appeal, which, before the appointment of decemvirs, had been +the supports of the people, and that it should be without detriment +to any one to have instigated the soldiers or the commons to seek to +recover their liberty by a secession. Concerning the punishment only +of the decemvirs was their demand immoderate: for they thought it but +just that they should be delivered up to them, and threatened to burn +them alive. The ambassadors replied: "Your demands which have been +the result of deliberation are so reasonable, that they should be +voluntarily offered to you: for you demand therein safeguards for +your liberty, not a means of arbitrary power to assail others. Your +resentment we must rather pardon than indulge, seeing that from your +hatred of cruelty you rush into cruelty, and almost before you are +free yourselves, already wish to lord it over your opponents. Shall +our state never enjoy rest from punishments, inflicted either by the +patricians on the Roman commons, or by the commons on the patricians? +You need a shield rather than a sword. He is sufficiently and +abundantly humbled who lives in the state on an equal footing with his +fellow-citizens, neither inflicting nor suffering injury. Should you, +however, at any time wish to render yourselves formidable, when, after +you have recovered your magistrates and laws, decisions on our +lives and fortunes shall be in your hands, then you shall determine +according to the merits of each case: for the present it is sufficient +that your liberty be recovered." + +All assenting that they should act just as they thought proper, the +ambassadors assured them that they would speedily return, having +brought everything to a satisfactory termination. When they had gone +and laid before the patricians the message of the commons--while the +other decemvirs, since, contrary to their own expectation, no mention +was made of their punishment--raised no objection, Appius, being of a +truculent disposition and the chief object of detestation, measuring +the rancour of others toward him by his own toward them, said: "I am +not ignorant of the fate which threatens me. I see that the contest +against us is only deferred until our arms are delivered up to our +adversaries. Blood must be offered up to popular rage. I do not even +hesitate to resign my decemvirate." A decree of the senate was then +passed: that the decemvirs should as soon as possible resign their +office; that Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should hold an election of +plebeian tribunes, and that the secession of the soldiers and commons +should not be detrimental to any one. These decrees of the senate +being completed, and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs came forth +into the assembly, and resigned their office, to the great joy of all. +News of this was carried to the commons. All those who remained in the +city escorted the ambassadors. This crowd was met by another joyous +body from the camp; they congratulated each other on the restoration +of liberty and concord to the state. The deputies spoke as follows +before the assembly: "Be it advantageous, fortunate, and happy for you +and the republic--return to your country, to your household gods, your +wives and children; but carry into the city the same moderation which +you observed here, where in spite of the pressing need of so many +things necessary for so large a number of persons, no man's field has +been injured. Go to the Aventine, whence you set out. There, in that +auspicious place, where you laid the first beginnings of your liberty, +you shall elect tribunes of the people. The chief pontiff will be at +hand to hold the elections." Great was their approval and joy, as +evinced in their assent to every measure. They then pulled up their +standards, and having set out for Rome, vied in exultation with all +they met. Silently, under arms, they marched through the city and +reached the Aventine. There, the chief pontiff holding the meeting +for the elections, they immediately elected as their tribunes of +the people, first of all Lucius Verginius, then Lucius Icilius, and +Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginius, who had recommended the +secession: then Gaius Sicinius, the offspring of him who is recorded +to have been elected first tribune of the commons on the Sacred Mount; +and Marcus Duillius, who had held a distinguished tribuneship before +the appointment of the decemvirs, and never failed the commons in +their contests with the decemvirs. Marcus Titinius, Marcus Pomponius, +Gaius Apronius, Appius Villius, and Gaius Oppius, were elected more +from hope entertained of them than from any actual services. When he +entered on his tribuneship, Lucius Icilius immediately brought before +the people, and the people enacted, that the secession from the +decemvirs which had taken place should not prove detrimental to any +individual. Immediately after Duillius carried a proposition for +electing consuls, with right of appeal[59]. All these things were +transacted in an assembly of the commons in the Flaminian meadows, +which are now called the Flaminian Circus.[60] + +Then, through an interrex, Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius were +elected consuls, and immediately entered on their office; their +consulship, agreeable to the people, although it did no injury to +the patricians, was not, however, without giving them offence; for +whatever measures were taken to secure the liberty of the people, they +considered to be a diminution of their own power. First of all, when +it was as it were a disputed point of law, whether patricians were +bound by regulations enacted in an assembly of the commons, they +proposed a law in the assembly of the centuries, that whatever the +commons ordered in the assembly of the tribes, should be binding on +the entire people; by which law a most keen-edged weapon of offence +was given to the motions introduced by tribunes. Then another law made +by a consul concerning the right of appeal, a singularly effective +safeguard of liberty, that had been upset by the decemviral power, +was not only restored but also guarded for the time to come, by the +passing of a new law, that no one should appoint any magistrate +without appeal:[61] if any person should so appoint, it should be +lawful and right that he be put to death; and that such killing should +not be deemed a capital offence. And when they had sufficiently +secured the commons by the right of appeal on the one hand by +tribunician aid on the other, they revived for the tribunes themselves +the privilege that their persons should be considered inviolable--the +recollection of which was now almost forgotten--by renewing after a +long interval certain ceremonies which had fallen into disuse; and +they rendered them inviolable by religion, as well as by a law, +enacting that whosoever should offer injury to tribunes of the people, +ædiles, or judicial decemvirs, his person should be devoted to +Jupiter, and his property be sold at the Temple of Ceres, Liber, and +Libera. Expounders of the law deny that any person is by this law +inviolable, but assert that he, who may do an injury to any of them, +is deemed by law accursed: and that, accordingly, an ædile may be +arrested and carried to prison by superior magistrates, which, though +it be not expressly warranted by law (for an injury is done to a +person to whom it is not lawful to do an injury according to this +law), is yet a proof that an ædile is not considered as sacred and +inviolable; the tribunes, however, are sacred and inviolable according +to the ancient oath of the commons, when first they created that +office. There have been some who supposed that by this same Horatian +law provision was made for the consuls also and the prætors, because +they were elected under the same auspices as the consuls; for a consul +was called a judge. This interpretation is refuted, because at this +time it had not yet been customary for the consul to be styled judge, +but prætor.[62] These were the laws proposed by the consuls. It was +also arranged by the same consuls, that decrees of the senate, which +before that used to be suppressed and altered at the pleasure of the +consuls, should be deposited in the Temple of Ceres, under the care +of the aediles of the commons. Then Marcus Duillius, tribune of the +commons, brought before the people and the people enacted, that +whoever left the people without tribunes, and whoever caused a +magistrate to be elected without appeal, should be punished with +stripes and beheaded. All these enactments, though against the +feelings of the patricians, passed off without opposition from them, +because as yet no severity was aimed at any particular individual. + +Then, both the tribunician power and the liberty of the commons having +been firmly established, the tribunes, now deeming it both safe and +seasonable to attack individuals, singled out Verginius as the first +prosecutor and Appius as defendant. When Verginius had appointed a day +for Appius to take his trial, and Appius had come down to the forum, +accompanied by a band of young patricians, the recollection of his +most profligate exercise of power was instantly revived in the minds +of all, as soon as they beheld the man himself and his satellites. +Then said Verginius: "Long speeches are only meant for matters of a +doubtful nature. Accordingly, I shall neither waste time in dwelling +on the guilt of this man before you, from whose cruelty you have +rescued yourselves by force of arms, nor will I suffer him to add +impudence to his other crimes in defending himself. Wherefore, Appius +Claudius, I pardon you for all the impious and nefarious deeds you +have had the effrontery to commit one after another for the last two +years; with respect to one charge only, unless you shall choose a +judge who shall acquit you that you have not sentenced a free person +to slavery, contrary to the laws, I shall order that you be taken into +custody." Neither in the aid of the tribunes, nor in the judgment of +the people, could Appius place any hope: still he both appealed to the +tribunes, and, when no one heeded him, being seized by the officer, he +exclaimed, "I appeal." The hearing of this one word that safeguard of +liberty, and the fact that it was uttered from that mouth, by which +a free citizen was so recently consigned to slavery, caused silence. +And, while they loudly declared, each on his own behalf, that at +length the existence of the gods was proved, and that they did not +disregard human affairs; and that punishments awaited tyranny and +cruelty, which punishments, though late, were, however, by no means +light; that that man now appealed, who had abolished all right of +appeal; and that he implored the protection of the people, who had +trampled under foot all the rights of the people: and that he was +being dragged off to prison, destitute of the rights of liberty, who +had doomed a free person to slavery, the voice of Appius himself was +heard, amid the murmurs of the assembly, imploring the protection of +the Roman people. He enumerated the services of his ancestors to +the state, at home and abroad: his own unfortunate anxiety for the +interests of the Roman commons, owing to which he had resigned the +consulship, to the very great displeasure of the patricians, for the +purpose of equalizing the laws; he then went on to mention those laws +of his, the framer of which was dragged off to prison, though the laws +still remained in force. However, in regard to what bore especially on +his own case, his personal merits and demerits, he would make trial +of them, when an opportunity should be afforded him of stating his +defence; at present, he, a Roman citizen, demanded, by the common +right of citizenship, that he be allowed to speak on the day +appointed, and to appeal to the judgment of the Roman people: he +did not dread popular odium so much as not to place any hope in the +fairness and compassion of his fellow-citizens. But if he were led to +prison without being heard, that he once more appealed to the tribunes +of the people, and warned them not to imitate those whom they hated. +But if the tribunes acknowledged themselves bound by the same +agreement for abolishing the right of appeal, which they charged the +decemvirs with having conspired to form, then he appealed to the +people, he implored the aid of the laws passed that very year, both by +the consuls and tribunes, regarding the right of appeal. For who +would there be to appeal, if this were not allowed a person as yet +uncondemned, whose case had not been heard? What plebeian or humble +individual would find protection in the laws, if Appius Claudius +could not? That he would be a proof whether tyranny or liberty was +established by the new laws, and whether the right of appeal and of +challenge against the injustice of magistrates was only held out in +idle words, or really granted. + +Verginius, on the other hand, affirmed that Appius Claudius was the +only person who had no part or share in the laws, or in any covenant +civil or human. Men should look to the tribunal, the fortress of all +villainies, where that perpetual decemvir, venting his fury on the +property, person, and life of the citizens, threatening all with his +rods and axes, a despiser of gods and men, surrounded by men who were +executioners, not lictors, turning his thoughts from rapine and murder +to lust, tore a free-born maiden, as if she had been a prisoner of +war, from the embraces of her father, before the eyes of the Roman +people, and gave her as a present to a dependent, the minister to his +secret pleasures: where too by a cruel decree, and a most outrageous +decision, he armed the right hand of the father against the daughter: +where he ordered the betrothed and uncle, on their raising the +lifeless body of the girl, to be led away to prison, affected more by +the interruption of his lust than by her death: that the prison was +built for him also which he was wont to call the domicile of the Roman +commons. Wherefore, though he might appeal again and again, he himself +would again and again propose a judge, to try him on the charge of +having sentenced a free person to slavery; if he would not go before a +judge, he ordered him to be taken to prison as one already condemned. +He was thrown into prison, though without the disapprobation of any +individual, yet not without considerable emotion of the public mind, +since, in consequence of the punishment by itself of so distinguished +a man, their own liberty began to be considered by the commons +themselves as excessive.[63] + +The tribunes adjourned the day of trial. + +Meanwhile, ambassadors from the Hernicans and Latins came to Rome +to offer their congratulations on the harmony existing between the +patricians and commons, and as an offering on that account to Jupiter, +best and greatest, they brought into the Capitol a golden crown, of +small weight, as money at that time was not plentiful, and the duties +of religion were performed rather with piety than splendour. On the +same authority it was ascertained that the Aequans and Volscians were +preparing for war with the utmost energy. The consuls were therefore +ordered to divide the provinces between them. The Sabines fell to the +lot of Horatius, the Æquans to Valerius. After they had proclaimed a +levy for these wars, through the good offices of the commons, not only +the younger men, but a large number, consisting of volunteers from +among those who had served their time,[64] attended to give in their +names: and hence the army was stronger not only in the number but also +in the quality of its soldiers, owing to the admixture of veterans. +Before they marched out of the city, they engraved on brass, and fixed +up in public view, the decemviral laws, which are named "the twelve +tables." There are some who state that the aediles discharged that +office by order of the tribunes. + +Gaius Claudius, who, detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and, above +all, incensed at the arrogant conduct of his brother-in-law, had +retired to Regillum, his ancestral home. Though advanced in years, he +now returned to the City, to deprecate the dangers threatening the man +whose vicious practices had driven him into retirement. Going down to +the Forum in mourning garb, accompanied by the members of his house +and by his clients, he appealed to the citizens individually, and +implored them not to stain the house of the Claudii with such an +indelible disgrace as to deem them worthy of bonds and imprisonment. +To think that a man whose image would be held in highest honour +by posterity, the framer of their laws and the founder of Roman +jurisprudence, should be lying manacled amongst nocturnal thieves and +robbers! Let them turn their thoughts for a moment from feelings of +exasperation to calm examination and reflection, and forgive one man +at the intercession of so many of the Claudii, rather than through +their hatred of one man despise the prayers of many. So far he himself +would go for the honour of his family and his name, but he was not +reconciled to the man whose distressed condition he was anxious to +relieve. By courage their liberties had been recovered, by clemency +the harmony of the orders in the State could be strengthened. Some +were moved, but it was more by the affection he showed for his nephew +than by any regard for the man for whom he was pleading. But Verginius +begged them with tears to keep their compassion for him and his +daughter, and not to listen to the prayers of the Claudii, who had +assumed sovereign power over the plebs, but to the three tribunes, +kinsmen of Verginia, who, after being elected to protect the +plebeians, were now seeking their protection. This appeal was felt to +have more justice in it. All hope being now cut off, Appius put an end +to his life before the day of trial came. + +Soon after Sp. Oppius was arraigned by P. Numitorius. He was only +less detested than Appius, because he had been in the City when his +colleague pronounced the iniquitous judgment. More indignation, +however, was aroused by an atrocity which Oppius had committed than +by his not having prevented one. A witness was produced, who after +reckoning up twenty-seven years of service, and eight occasions on +which he had been decorated for conspicuous bravery, appeared before +the people wearing all his decorations. Tearing open his dress he +exhibited his back lacerated with stripes. He asked for nothing but a +proof on Oppius' part of any single charge against him; if such proof +were forthcoming, Oppius, though now only a private citizen, might +repeat all his cruelty towards him. Oppius was taken to prison and +there, before the day of trial, he put an end to his life. His +property and that of Claudius were confiscated by the tribunes. Their +colleagues changed their domicile by going into exile; their property +also was confiscated. M. Claudius, who had been the claimant of +Verginia, was tried and condemned; Verginius himself, however, refused +to press for the extreme penalty, so he was allowed to go into exile +to Tibur. Verginia was more fortunate after her death than in her +lifetime; her shade, after wandering through so many houses in quest +of expiatory penalties, at length found rest, not one guilty person +being now left. + +Great alarm seized the patricians; the looks of the tribunes were +now as menacing as those of the decemvirs had been. M. Duillius the +tribune imposed a salutary check upon their excessive exercise of +authority. "We have gone," he said, "far enough in the assertion of +our liberty and the punishment of our opponents, so for this year +I will allow no man to be brought to trial or cast into prison. I +disapprove of old crimes, long forgotten, being raked up, now that the +recent ones have been atoned for by the punishment of the decemvirs. +The unceasing care which both the consuls are taking to protect your +liberties is a guarantee that nothing will be done which will call for +the power of the tribunes." This spirit of moderation shown by the +tribune relieved the fears of the patricians, but it also intensified +their resentment against the consuls, for they seemed to be so wholly +devoted to the plebs, that the safety and liberty of the patricians +were a matter of more immediate concern to the plebeian than they were +to the patrician magistrates. It seemed as though their adversaries +would grow weary of inflicting punishment on them sooner than the +consuls would curb their insolence. It was pretty generally asserted +that they had shown weakness, since their laws had been sanctioned by +the senate, and no doubt was entertained that they had yielded to the +pressure of circumstances. + +After matters had been settled in the City and the position of the +plebs firmly assured, the consuls left for their respective provinces. +Valerius wisely suspended operations against the armies of the Aequans +and the Volscians, which had now united at Algidum: whereas, if he had +immediately intrusted the issue to fortune, I am inclined to think +that, considering the feelings both of the Romans and of their enemies +at that time, after the unfavourable auspices of the decemvirs,[65] +the contest would have cost him heavy loss. Having pitched his camp +at the distance of a mile from the enemy, he kept his men quiet. The +enemy filled the space lying between the two camps with their army +in order of battle, and not a single Roman made answer when they +challenged them to fight. At length, wearied with standing and waiting +in vain for a contest, the Aequans and Volscians, considering that the +victory was almost yielded to them, went off some to Hernican, others +to Latin territory, to commit depredations. There was left in the camp +rather a garrison for its defence than sufficient force for a contest. +When the consul perceived this, he in turn inspired the terror which +his own men had previously felt, and having drawn up his troops in +order of battle on his side, provoked the enemy to fight. When they, +conscious of their lack of forces, declined battle, the courage of the +Romans immediately increased, and they considered them vanquished, +as they stood panic-stricken within their rampart. Having stood +throughout the day eager for the contest, they retired at night. And +the Romans, now full of hope, set about refreshing themselves. The +enemy, in by no means equal spirits, being now anxious, despatched +messengers in every direction to recall the plundering parties. + +Those in the nearest places returned: those who were farther off were +not found. When day dawned, the Romans left the camp, determined on +assaulting the rampart, unless an opportunity of fighting presented +itself; and when the day was now far advanced, and no movement was +made by the enemy, the consul ordered an advance; and the troops being +put in motion, the Aequans and Volscians were seized with indignation, +at the thought that victorious armies had to be defended by a rampart +rather than by valour and arms. Wherefore they also earnestly demanded +the signal for battle from their generals, and received it. And now +half of them had got out of the gates, and the others in succession +were marching in order, as they went down each to his own post, when +the Roman consul, before the enemy's line, supported by their entire +strength, could get into close order, advanced upon them; and having +attacked them before they were all as yet led forth, and before those, +who were, had their lines properly drawn out, he fell upon them, +a crowd almost beginning to waver, as they ran from one place to +another, and gazed around upon themselves, and looked eagerly for +their friends, the shouts and violent attack adding to the already +panic-stricken condition of their minds. The enemy at first gave way; +then, having rallied their spirits, when their generals on every side +reproachfully asked them, whether they intended to yield to vanquished +foes, the battle was restored. + +On the other side, the consul desired the Romans to remember that on +that day, for the first time, they fought as free men in defence of +Rome, now a free city. That it was for themselves they were about to +conquer, not to become, when victorious, the prize of the decemvirs. +That it was not under the command of Appius that operations were +being conducted, but under their consul Valerius, descended from the +liberators of the Roman people, himself their liberator. Let them show +that in former battles it had been the fault of the generals and not +of the soldiers, that they did not conquer. That it was shameful to +have exhibited more courage against their own countrymen than against +their enemies, and to have dreaded slavery more at home than abroad. +That Verginia was the only person whose chastity had been in danger +in time of peace; that Appius had been the only citizen of dangerous +lust. But if the fortune of war should turn against them, the children +of all would be in danger from so many thousands of enemies; that he +was unwilling to forebode what neither Jupiter nor their father Mars +would be likely to suffer to befall a city built under such auspices. +He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount; that they +should bring back dominion unimpaired to that spot, where their +liberty had been won but a few months before; and that they should +show that the Roman soldiers retained the same disposition after the +expulsion of the decemvirs, as they had possessed before they +were appointed, and that the valour of the Roman people had not +deteriorated after the laws had been equalized. After he uttered these +words among the battalions of the infantry, he hurried from them to +the cavalry. "Come, young men," said he, "show yourselves superior to +the infantry in valour, as you already are their superiors in honour +and in rank. The infantry at the first onset have made the enemy give +way; now that they have given way, do you give reins to your horses +and drive them from the field. They will not stand your charge; even +now they rather hesitate than resist." They spurred on their horses, +and charged at full speed against the enemy, who were already thrown +into confusion by the attack of the infantry: and having broken +through the ranks, some dashing on to the rear of their line, others +wheeling about in the open space from the flanks, turned most of them +away from the camp as they were now flying in all directions, and by +riding beyond them headed them off. The line of infantry, the consul +himself, and the whole onset of the battle was borne toward the camp, +and having taken it with considerable slaughter, he got possession of +still more considerable booty. The fame of this battle, carried not +only to the city, but to the other army also in Sabine territory, was +welcomed in the city with public rejoicing; in the camp, it inspirited +the soldiers to emulate such glory. Horatius, by training them in +sallies, and making trial of them in slight skirmishes, had accustomed +them to trust in themselves rather than remember the ignominy incurred +under the command of the decemvirs, and these trifling engagements had +greatly contributed to the successful consummation of their hopes. The +Sabines, elated at their success in the preceding year, ceased not +to provoke and urge them to fight, constantly asking why they wasted +time, sallying forth in small numbers and returning like marauders, +and why they distributed the issue of a single war over a number of +engagements, and those of no importance. Why did they not meet them in +the field, and intrust to fortune the decision of the matter once and +for all? + +Besides that they had already of themselves recovered sufficient +courage, the Romans were fired with exasperation at the thought that +the other army would soon return victorious to the city; that the +enemy were now wantonly affronting them with insolence: when, +moreover, would they be a match for the enemy, if they were not so +then? When the consul ascertained that the soldiers loudly expressed +these sentiments in the camp, having summoned an assembly, he spoke +as follows: "How matters have fared in Algidum, I suppose that you, +soldiers, have already heard. As became the army of the free people +to behave, so have they behaved; through the good judgment of my +colleague and the valour of the soldiers, the victory has been gained. +For my part, I shall display the same judgment and determination as +you yourselves, O soldiers, display. The war may either be prolonged +with advantage, or be brought to a speedy conclusion. If it is to be +prolonged, I shall take care, by employing the same method of warfare +with which I have begun, that your hopes and your valour may increase +every day. If you have now sufficient courage, and it is your wish +that the matter be decided, come, raise here a shout such as you will +raise in the field of battle, in token both of your wishes and your +valour." Whenthe shout was raised with great alacrity, he assured them +that he would comply with their wishes--and so might Heaven prosper +it--and lead them next day into the field. The remainder of the day +was spent in getting ready their arms. On the following day, as soon +as the Sabines saw the Roman army being drawn up in order of battle, +they too, having long since been eager for the encounter, advanced. +The battle was one such as would be fought between two armies who both +had confidence in themselves, the one on account of its long-standing +and unbroken career of glory, the other recently elated by its unusual +success. The Sabines aided their strength also by stratagem; for, +having formed a line equal to that of the Romans, they kept two +thousand men in reserve, to make an attack on the left wing of the +Romans in the heat of the battle. When these, by an attack in flank, +were on the point of overpowering that wing, now almost surrounded, +about six hundred of the cavalry of two legions leaped down from their +horses, and, as their men were giving way, rushed forward in front, +and at the same time both opposed the advance of the enemy, and roused +the courage of the infantry, first by sharing the danger equally with +them, and then by arousing in them a sense of shame. It was a matter +of shame that the cavalry should fight in their own proper fashion and +in that of others, and that the infantry should not be equal to the +cavalry even when dismounted.[66] + +They marched therefore to the fight, which had been suspended on their +part, and endeavoured to regain the ground which they had lost, and in +a moment not only was the battle restored, but one of the wings of +the Sabines gave way. The cavalry, protected between the ranks of the +infantry, remounted their horses; they then galloped across to the +other division to announce their success to their party; at the same +time also they charged the enemy, now disheartened by the discomfiture +of their stronger wing. The valour of none shone forth more +conspicuous in that battle. The consul provided for all emergencies; +he applauded the brave, rebuked wherever the battle seemed to slacken. +When reproved, they displayed immediately the deeds of brave men; and +a sense of shame stimulated these, as much as praises the others. The +shout being raised anew, all together making a united effort, drove +the enemy back; nor could the Roman attack be any longer resisted. + +The Sabines, driven in every direction through the country, left their +camp behind them for the enemy to plunder. There the Romans recovered +the effects, not of the allies, as at Algidum, but their own property, +which had been lost by the devastations of their lands. For this +double victory, gained in two battles, in two different places, the +senate in a niggardly spirit merely decreed thanksgivings in the name +of the consuls for one day only. The people went, however, on the +second day also, in great numbers of their own accord to offer +thanksgiving; and this unauthorized and popular thanksgiving, owing to +their zeal, was even better attended. The consuls by agreement came +to the city within the same two days, and summoned the senate to +the Campius Martius.[67] When they were there relating the services +performed by themselves, the chiefs of the patricians complained that +the senate was designedly convened among the soldiers for the purpose +of intimidation. The consuls, therefore, that there might be no room +for such a charge, called away the senate to the Flaminian meadows, +where the Temple of Apollo now is (even then it was called the +Apollinare). There, when a triumph was refused by a large majority +of the patricians, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the commons, brought a +proposition before the people regarding the triumph of the consuls, +many persons coming forward to argue against the measure, but in +particular Gaius Claudius, who exclaimed, that it was over the senate, +not over the enemy, that the consuls wished to triumph; and that it +was intended as a return for a private service to a tribune, and not +as an honour due to valour. That never before had the matter of a +triumph been managed through the people; but that the consideration of +that honour and the disposal of it, had always rested with the senate; +that not even the kings had infringed on the majesty of this most +august body. The tribunes should not so occupy every department with +their own authority, as to allow the existence of no public council; +that the state would be free, and the laws equalized by these means +only, if each order retained its own rights and its own dignity. After +much had been said by the other senior patricians also to the same +purpose, all the tribes approved the proposition. Then for the first +time a triumph was celebrated by order of the people, without the +authority of the senate. + +This victory of the tribunes and people was well-nigh terminating in +an extravagance by no means salutary, a conspiracy being formed among +the tribunes that the same tribunes might be re-elected, and, in +order that their own ambition might be the less conspicuous, that +the consuls also might have their office prolonged. They pleaded, in +excuse, the combination of the patricians by which the privileges of +the commons were attempted to be undermined by the affronts of the +consuls. What would be the consequence, when the laws were as yet not +firmly established, if they attacked the new tribunes through consuls +of their own party? Men like Horatius and Valerius would not always be +consuls, who would regard their own interests as secondary after the +liberty of the people. By some concurrence of circumstances, useful in +view of the situation, it fell by lot to Marcus Duillius before +all others to preside at the elections, a man of prudence, and who +perceived the storm of public odium that was hanging over them from +the continuance of their office. And when he declared that he would +take no account of any of the former tribunes, and his colleagues +struggled to get him to allow the tribes to vote independently, or to +give up the office of presiding at the elections, which he held by +lot, to his colleagues, who would hold the elections according to law +rather than according to the pleasure of the patricians; a contention +being now excited, when Duillius had sent for the consuls to his +seat and asked them what they contemplated doing with respect to the +consular elections, and they answered that they would appoint new +consuls; then, having secured popular supporters of a measure by no +means popular, he proceeded with them into the assembly. There the +consuls were brought forward before the people, and asked what they +would do if the Roman people mindful of their liberty recovered at +home through them, mindful also of their services in war, should again +elect them consuls: and when they in no way changed their opinions, +he held the election, after eulogizing the consuls, because they +persevered to the last in being unlike the decemvirs; and five +tribunes of the people having been elected, when, through the zealous +exertions of the nine tribunes who openly pressed their canvass, the +other candidates could not make up the required number of tribes, he +dismissed the assembly; nor did he hold one afterward for the purpose +of an election. He said that the law had been satisfied, which, +without any number being anywhere specified, only enacted that +tribunes who had been elected should be left to choose their +colleagues and confirmed those chosen by them. He then went on to +recite the formula of the law, in which it was laid down: "If I shall +propose for election ten tribunes of the commons, if from any cause +you shall elect this day less than ten tribunes of the people, then +that those whom they may have chosen as colleagues for themselves, +that these, I say, be legitimate tribunes of the people on the same +conditions as those whom you shall on this day have elected tribunes +of the people." When Duillius persevered to the last, stating that the +republic could not have fifteen tribunes of the people, having baffled +the ambition of his colleagues, he resigned office, equally approved +of by patricians and commons. + +The new tribunes of the people, in electing their colleagues +endeavoured to gratify the wishes of the patricians; they even elected +two who were patricians,[68] and men of consular rank Spurius Tarpeius +and Aulus Aternius. The consuls elected, Spurius Herminius, Titus +Verginius Cælimontanus, not being specially inclined to the cause +either of the patricians or commons, had perfect tranquillity both at +home and abroad. Lucius Trebonius, tribune of the commons, incensed +against the patricians, because, as he said, he had been imposed on +by them in the matter of choosing tribunes, and betrayed by his +colleagues, brought forward a proposal, that whoever proposed he +election of tribunes of the people before the commons, should go on +taking the votes, until he elected ten tribunes of the people; and he +spent his tribuneship in worrying the patricians, whence the surname +of Asper was given him. Next Marcus Geganius Macerinus, and Gaius +Julius, being elected consuls, quieted some disputes that had arisen +between the tribunes and the youth of the nobility, without displaying +any harshness against that power, and at the same time preserving the +dignity of the patricians. By proclaiming a levy for the war against +the Volscians and Æquans, they kept the people from riots by keeping +matters in abeyance, affirming that everything was also quiet abroad, +owing to the harmony in the city, and that it was only through civil +discord that foreign foes took courage. Their anxiety for peace abroad +was also the cause of harmony at home. But notwithstanding, the one +order ever attacked the moderation of the other. Acts of injustice +began to be committed by the younger patricians on the commons, +although the latter kept perfectly quiet. Where the tribunes assisted +the more humble, in the first place it accomplished little: and +thereafter they did not even themselves escape ill-treatment: +particularly in the latter months, when injustice was committed +through the combinations among the more powerful, and the power of the +office became considerably weaker in the latter part of the year. And +now the commons placed some hopes in the tribuneship, if only they +could get tribunes like Icilius: for the last two years they declared +that they had only had mere names. On the other hand, the elder +members of the patrician order, though they considered their young men +to be too overbearing, yet preferred, if bounds were to be exceeded, +that a superabundance of spirit should be exhibited by their own order +rather than by their adversaries. So difficult a thing is moderation +in maintaining liberty, while every one, by pretending to desire +equality, exalts himself in such a manner as to put down another, +and men, by their very precautions against fear, cause themselves to +become objects of dread: and we saddle on others injustice repudiated +on our own account, as if it were absolutely necessary either to +commit injustice or to submit to it. Titus Quinctius Capitolinus for +the fourth time and Agrippa Furius being then elected consuls, found +neither disturbance at home nor war abroad; both, however, were +impending. The discord of the citizens could now no longer be checked, +both tribunes and commons being exasperated against the patricians, +while, if a day of trial was appointed for any of the nobility, it +always embroiled the assemblies in new struggles. On the first report +of these the Æquans and Volscians, as if they had received a signal, +took up arms; also because their leaders, eager for plunder, had +persuaded them that the levy proclaimed two years previously could not +be proceeded with, as the commons now refused obedience to military +authority: that for that reason no armies had been sent against them; +that military discipline was subverted by licentiousness, and that +Rome was no longer considered a common country for its citizens; that +whatever resentment and animosity they might have entertained +against foreigners, was now directed against themselves; that now an +opportunity offered itself for destroying wolves blinded by intestine +rage. Having united their forces, they first utterly laid waste the +Latin territory: when none met them to avenge the wrong, then indeed, +to the great exultation of the advisers of the war, they approached +the very walls of Rome, carrying their depredations into the district +around the Esquiline gate[69] pointing out to the city in mocking +insult the devastation of the land. When they marched back thence to +Corbio unmolested and driving their booty before them, Quinctius the +consul summoned the people to an assembly. + +There I find that he spoke to this effect: "Though I am conscious to +myself of no fault, Quirites, yet it is with the greatest shame I have +come forward to your assembly. To think that you should know this, +that this should be handed down on record to posterity, that the +Æquans and Volscians a short time since scarcely a match for the +Hernicans, have with impunity come with arms in their hands to the +walls of Rome, in the fourth consulate of Titus Quinctius! Had I known +that this disgrace was reserved for this year, above all others, +though we have now long been living in such a manner, and such is the +state of affairs, that my mind can forebode nothing good, I would have +avoided this honour either by exile or by death, if there had been no +other means of escaping it. Then, if men of courage had held those +arms, which were at our gates, Rome could have been taken during my +consulate. I have had sufficient honours, enough and more than enough +of life: I ought to have died in my third consulate. Whom, I pray, did +these most dastardly enemies despise? Us, consuls, or you, Quirites? +If the fault lies in us, take away the command from those who are +unworthy of it; and, if that is not enough, further inflict punishment +on us. If the fault is yours, may there be none of gods or men to +punish your offences: do you yourselves only repent of them. It is not +your cowardice they have despised, nor their own valour that they have +put their trust in: having been so often routed and put to flight, +stripped of their camp, mulcted in their land, sent under the yoke, +they know both themselves and you. It is the discord among the several +orders that is the curse of this city, the contests between the +patricians and commons. While we have neither bounds in the pursuit of +power, nor you in that of liberty, while you are wearied of patrician, +we of plebeian magistrates, they have taken courage. In the name of +Heaven, what would you have? You desired tribunes of the commons; we +granted them for the sake of concord. You longed for decemvirs; +we suffered them to be created. You became weary of decemvirs; we +compelled them to resign office. Your resentment against these same +persons when they became private citizens still continuing, we +suffered men of the highest family and rank to die or go into exile. +You wished asecond time to create tribunes of the commons; you created +them. You wished to elect consuls attached to your party; and, +although we saw that it was unjust to the patricians, we have even +resigned ourselves to see a patrician magistracy conceded as an +offering to the people. The aid of tribunes, right of appeal to the +people, the acts of the commons made binding on the patricians under +the pretext of equalizing the laws, the subversion of our privileges, +we have endured and still endure. What end is there to be to our +dissensions? When shall it be allowed us to have a united city, one +common country? We, when defeated, submit with greater resignation +than you when victorious. Is it enough for you, that you are objects +of terror to us? The Aventine is taken against us: against us the +Sacred Mount is seized. When the Esquiline was almost taken by the +enemy, no one defended it, and when the Volscian foe was scaling the +rampart, no one drove him off: it is against us you behave like men, +against us you are armed. + +"Come, when you have blockaded the senate-house here, and have made +the forum the seat of war, and filled the prison with the leading men +of the state, march forth through the Esquiline gate, with that same +determined spirit; or, if you do not even venture thus far, behold +from your walls your lands laid waste with fire and sword, booty +driven off, houses set on fire in every direction and smoking. But, I +may be told, it is only the public weal that is in a worse condition +through this: the land is burned, the city is besieged, the glory of +the war rests with the enemy. What in the name of Heaven--what is the +state of your own private affairs? Even now to each of you his own +private losses from the country will be announced. What, pray, is +there at home, whence you can recruit them? Will the tribunes restore +and re-establish what you have lost? Of sound and words they will heap +on you as much as you please, and of charges against the leading men, +laws one after another, and public meetings. But from these meetings +never has one of you returned home more increased in substance or in +fortune. Has any one ever brought back to his wife and children aught +save hatred, quarrels, grudges public and private, from which you may +ever be protected, not by your own valour and integrity, but by the +aid of others? But, by Hercules! When you served under the command of +us consuls, not under tribunes, in the camp and not in the forum, and +the enemy trembled at your shout in the field of battle, not the Roman +patricians in the assembly, having gained booty and taken land from +the enemy, loaded with wealth and glory, both public and private, you +used to return home in triumph to your household gods: now you allow +the enemy to go off laden with your property. Continue fast bound to +your assemblies, live in the forum; the necessity of taking the field, +which you strive to escape, still follows you. It was hard on you to +march against the Æquans and the Volscians: the war is at your gates: +if it is not driven from thence, it will soon be within your walls, +and will scale the citadel and Capitol, and follow you into your very +houses. Two years ago the senate ordered a levy to be held, and an +army to be marched out to Algidum; yet we sit down listless at home, +quarrelling with each other like women, delighting in present peace, +and not seeing that after that short-lived inactivity war will return +with interest. That there are other topics more pleasing than these, +I well know; but even though my own mind did not prompt me to it, +necessity obliges me to speak the truth rather than what is pleasing. +I would indeed like to meet with your approval, Quirites; but I am +much more anxious that you should be preserved, whatever sentiments +you shall entertain toward me. It has been so ordained by nature, that +he who addresses a crowd for his own private interest, is more welcome +than the man whose mind has nothing in view but the public interest +unless perhaps you suppose that those public sycophants those +flatterers of the commons, who neither suffer you to take up arms nor +to live in peace, excite and work you up for your own interests. When +excited, you are to them sources either of position or of profit: and, +because, when the orders are in accord, they see that they themselves +are of no importance in anything, they prefer to be leaders of a bad +cause, of tumults and sedition, rather than of no cause at all. If +you can at last become wearied of all this, and if you are willing to +resume the habits practised by your forefathers of old, and formerly +by yourselves, in place of these new ones, I am ready to submit to +any punishment, if I do not in a few days rout and put to flight, and +strip of their camp those devastators of our lands, and transfer from +our gates and walls to their cities this terror of war, by which you +are now thrown into consternation." + +Scarcely ever was the speech of a popular tribune more acceptable to +the commons than this of a most austere consul on that occasion. The +young men also, who, during such alarms, had been accustomed to employ +the refusal to enlist as the sharpest weapon against the patricians, +began to turn their attention to war and arms: and the flight of the +rustics, and those who had been robbed and wounded in the country, by +announcing events more revolting even than what was before their eyes, +filled the whole city with exasperation. When they came into the +senate, there all, turning to Quinctius, looked upon him as the only +champion of the majesty of Rome: and the leading senators declared +that his harangue was worthy of the consular authority, worthy of so +many consulships formerly borne by him, worthy of his whole life, full +of honours frequently enjoyed, more frequently deserved. That other +consuls had either flattered the commons by betraying the dignity of +the patricians, or by harshly maintaining the rights of their order, +had rendered the multitude more exasperated by their efforts to subdue +them: that Titus Quinctius had delivered a speech mindful of the +dignity of the patricians, of the concord of the different orders, +and above all, of the needs of the times. They entreated him and his +colleague to assume the management of the commonwealth; they entreated +the tribunes, by acting in concert with the consuls, to join in +driving back the war from the city and the walls, and to induce the +commons to be obedient to the senate at so perilous a conjuncture: +declaring that, their lands being devastated, and their city in a +manner besieged, their common country appealed to them as tribunes, +and implored their aid. By universal consent the levy was decreed and +held. When the consuls gave public notice that there was no time for +considering claims for exemption; that all the young men should attend +on the following morning at dawn in the Campus Martius; that when the +war was over, they would afford time for inquiring into the excuses of +those who had not given in their names; that the man should be held +as a deserter, whose excuse they found unsatisfactory; all the youth +attended on the following day. The cohorts [70] chose each their +centurions: two senators were placed at the head of each cohort. +We have read that all these measures were carried out with such +expedition that the standards, which had been brought forth from the +treasury on that very day by the quæstors and conveyed to the Campus, +started from thence at the fourth hour; and the newly-raised army +halted at the tenth milestone, followed only by a few cohorts of +veteran soldiers as volunteers. The following day brought the enemy +within sight, and camp was joined to camp near Corbio. On the third +day, when resentment urged on the Romans, and a consciousness of guilt +for having so often rebelled and a feeling of despair, the others, +there was no delay in coming to an engagement. + +In the Roman army, though the two consuls were invested with equal +authority, the supreme command was, by the concession of Agrippa, +resigned to his colleague, an arrangement most salutary in the conduct +of matters of great importance; and he who was preferred made a polite +return for the ready condescension of the other, who thus lowered +himself, by making him his confidant in all his plans and sharing with +him his honours, and by putting him on an equality with him although +he was by no means as capable. On the field of battle Quinctius +commanded the right, Agrippa the left wing; the command of the centre +was intrusted to Spurius Postumius Albus, as lieutenant-general. +Publius Sulpicius, the other lieutenant-general, was placed at the +head of the cavalry. The infantry on the right wing fought with +distinguished valour, while the Volscians offered a stout resistance. +Publius Sulpicius with his cavalry broke through the centre of the +enemy's line; and, though he might have returned thence in the same +way to his own party, before the enemy restored their broken ranks, +it seemed more advisable to attack them in the rear, and in a moment, +charging the line in the rear, he would have dispersed the enemy by +the double attack, had not the cavalry of the Volscians and Æquans +kept him for some time engaged by a mode of fighting like his own. +Then indeed Sulpicius declared that there was no time for delay, +crying out that they were surrounded and would be cut off from their +own friends, unless they united all their efforts and despatched the +engagement with the cavalry. Nor was it enough to rout the enemy +without disabling them; they must slay horses and men, that none might +return to the fight or renew the battle; that these could not resist +them, before whom a compact body of infantry had given way. His orders +were addressed to no deaf ears; by a single charge they routed the +entire cavalry, dismounted great numbers, and killed with their +javelins both the riders and the horses. Thus ended the cavalry +engagement. Then, having attacked the enemy's infantry, they sent an +account to the consuls of what had been done, where the enemy's line +was already giving way. The news both gave fresh courage to the +Romans who were now gaining the day, and dismayed the Æquans who were +beginning to give way. They first began to be beaten in the centre, +where the furious charge of the cavalry had broken their ranks. Then +the left wing began to lose ground before the consul Quinctius; the +contest was most obstinate on the right. Then Agrippa, in the vigour +of his youth and strength, seeing matters going more favourably in +every part of the battle than in his own quarter, snatched some of the +standards from the standard-bearers and carried them on himself, some +even he began to throw into the thick of the enemy.[71] + +The soldiers, urged on by the fear of this disgrace, attacked the +enemy; thus the victory was equalized in every quarter. News then came +from Quinctius that he, being now victorious, was about to attack +the enemy's camp; that he was unwilling to break into it, before he +learned that they were beaten in the left wing also. If he had routed +the enemy, let him now join him, that all the army together might +take possession of the booty. Agrippa, being victorious, with mutual +congratulations advanced toward his victorious colleague and the +enemy's camp. There, as there were but few to defend it, and these +were routed in a moment they broke into the fortifications without a +struggle, and marched back the army, in possession of abundant spoil, +having recovered also their own effects, which had been lost by the +devastation of the lands. I have not heard that they either themselves +demanded a triumph, or that one was offered to them by the senate; nor +is any cause assigned for the honour being either overlooked or not +hoped for. As far as I can conjecture at so great a distance of time, +since a triumph had been refused to the consuls Horatius and Valerius, +who, in addition to the victory over the Æquans and Volscians, had +gained the glory of having also finished the Sabine war, the consuls +were ashamed to demand a triumph for one half of the services done by +them, lest, even if they should have obtained it, regard might appear +to have been paid to persons rather than to merit. + +A disgraceful decision of the people regarding the boundaries of their +allies marred the honourable victory obtained over their enemies. The +people of Aricia [72] and of Ardea, who had frequently contended in +arms concerning a disputed piece of land, wearied out by many losses +on either side, appointed the Roman people as arbitrators. When they +arrived to support their claims, an assembly of the people being +granted them by the magistrates, the matter was debated with great +warmth. The witnesses being now produced, when it was time for the +tribes to be called, and for the people to give their votes, Publius +Scaptius, a plebeian advanced in years, rose up and said, "Consuls, if +it is permitted me to speak on the public interest, I will not suffer +the people to be led into a mistake in this matter." When the consuls +said that he, as unworthy of attention, ought not to be heard, and, on +his shouting that the public interest was being betrayed, ordered him +to be put aside, he appealed to the tribunes. The tribunes, as they +are nearly always directed by the multitude rather than direct it, +granted Scaptius leave to say what he pleased in deference to the +people, who were anxious to hear him. He then began: That he was now +in his eighty-third year, and that he had served in that district +which was now in dispute, not even then a young man, as he was already +serving in his twentieth campaign, when operations were going on at +Corioli. He therefore brought forward a fact forgotten by length of +time--one, however, deeply fixed in his memory, namely, that the +district now in dispute had belonged to the territory of Corioli, and, +after the taking of Corioli, it had become come by right of war the +public property of the Roman people. That he was surprised how the +states of Ardea and Aricia could have the face to hope to deprive the +Roman people, whom instead of lawful owners they had made arbitrators; +of a district the right of which they had never claimed while the +state of Corioli existed. That he for his part had but a short time +to live; he could not, however, bring himself, old as he now was, to +desist claiming by his voice, the only means he now had, a district +which, as a soldier, he had contributed to acquire, as far as a man +could. That he strenuously advised the people not to ruin their own +interest by an idle feeling of delicacy. + +The consuls, when they perceived that Scaptius was listened to not +only in silence, but even with approbation, calling gods and men to +witness, that a disgraceful enormity was being committed, summoned +the principal senators: with them they went round to the tribes, +entreated, that, as judges, they would not be guilty of a most heinous +crime, with a still worse precedent, by converting the subject of +dispute to their own interest, more especially when, even though it +may be lawful for a judge to look after his own interest, so much +would by no means be acquired by keeping the land, as would be lost by +alienating the affections of their allies by injustice; for that the +loss of reputation and confidence was of greater importance than could +be estimated. Was this the answer the ambassadors were to carry home; +was this to go out to the world; were their allies to hear this; were +their enemies to hear it--with what sorrow the one--with what joy the +other? Could they suppose that the neighbouring states would ascribe +this proceeding to Scaptius, an old babbler at assemblies? That +Scaptius would be rendered distinguished by this statue: but that the +Roman people would assume the character of a corrupt informer [73] +and appropriator of the claims of others. For what judge in a private +cause ever acted in such a way as to adjudge to himself the property +in dispute? That even Scaptius himself would not act so, though he had +now outlived all sense of shame. Thus the consuls, thus the senators +exclaimed; but covetousness, and Scaptius, the adviser of that +covetousness, had more influence. The tribes, when convened, decided +that the district was the public property of the Roman people. Nor can +it be denied that it might have been so, if they had gone to other +judges; but, as it is, the infamy of the decision is not in any +way diminished by the justice of the cause: nor did it appear more +disgraceful or more repulsive to the people of Aricia and of Ardea, +than it did to the Roman senate. The remainder of the year continued +free from disturbances both at home and abroad. [74] + + +Footnotes: + +[Footnote 1: The ager publicus or public land consisted of the landed +estates which had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land +taken from enemies who had been captured in war. The patricians had +gained exclusive occupation of this, for which they paid a nominal +rent in the shape of produce and tithes: the state, however, still +retained the right of disposal of it. By degrees the ager publicus +fell into the hands of a few rich individuals, who were continually +buying up smaller estates, which were cultivated by slaves, thus +reducing the number of free agricultural labourers.] + +[Footnote 2: Directly, rather than by lot as was usual.] + +[Footnote 4: In later times the censor performed this office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: This decree was practically a bestowal of absolute +power.--D.O.] + +[Footnote: In later times the proconsul was the consul of the previous +year, appointed to act as such over one of the provinces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: This gate was on the west side, in the rear, farthest +from the enemy: it was so called from the decumanus, a line drawn from +east to west, which divided the camp into two halves: see note in +revised edition of Prendeville's Livy.] + +[Footnote 8: August 1st] + +[Footnote 9: The consular year, not the civil one, which began in +January: the time at which the consuls entered upon office varied very +much until B.C. 153, when it was finally settled that the date of +their doing so should be January 1st.] + +[Footnote 10: Called "Via Praenestina" beyond Gabii.] + +[Footnote 11: That is, broke up camp.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: The people of Rome had been divided in early times into +thirty curies: each of these had an officiating priest, called curio, +and the whole body was under the presidency of the curio maximus.] + +[Footnote 13: The ten leading senators held the office in rotation for +five days each, until the consular comitia were held.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: August 11th] + +[Footnote 15: A lesser form of triumph.] + +[Footnote 16: The Sibylline books, supposed to have been sold to +Tarquinius Superbus by the Sibyl of Cumæ: they were written in Greek +hexameter verses. In times of emergency and distress they were +consulted and interpreted by special priests (the duumviri here +mentioned).] + +[Footnote 17: It will be frequently observed that the patricians +utilized their monopoly of religious offices to effect their own +ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Curule chairs of office.] + +[Footnote 19: That is, recruits.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: The worst quarter of the city--its White chapel as it +were. It lay, roughly speaking, from the Forum eastward along the +valley between Esquiline and Viminial Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, to insure punishment and practically abnegate +the right an accused person had of escaping sentence by voluntary +exile.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps the first bail-bond historically noted.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: That is, refused to accept the plea.] + +[Footnote 24: That is, defended them in court.] + +[Footnote 25: The Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol was divided into +three parts: the middle was sacred to Jupiter, the right to Minerva, +the left to Juno. By "other gods" are meant Terminus, Fides, +Juventas.] + +[Footnote 26: Publicola, the father of Brutus.] + +[Footnote 27: That is, personal violence from the young +patricians.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 28: Their control over the auspices was a favourite weapon +of the patricians, and one which could naturally be better used at +a distance from Rome. The frequency of its use would seem to argue +adaptability in the devotional feelings of the nobles at least, which +might modify our reliance upon the statement made above as to the +respect for the gods then prevalent in Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: This was the limit of the tribunes' authority.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: This gate, from which at a later date the Via Appia and +the Via Latina started, stood near what is now the junction of the Via +S. Gregorio with the Vi di Porta S. Sebastiano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: By drawing part of the Roman army to the defence of the +allied city.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Two spears were set upright and a third lashed across. +To pass through and under this "yoke" was, among the Italian states, +the greatest indignity that could be visited upon a captured army. It +symbolized servititude in arms.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 33: This would seem to augur some treachery, unless we are +to believe that only the young men taken in the citadel were +sent under the yoke, the slaughter took place among the flying +besiegers.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: "Quæstors," these officers are first mentioned in Book +II, ch. xii. In early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those guilty of treason, and to carry the punishment into +execution.] + +[Footnote 35: Evidently a new pretext for delay.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: A little beyond Crustumerium, on the Via Salaria.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 37: Possibly to one assigned to him officially. +Freese regards the expression as inconsistent with his alleged +poverty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A curious feature of a triumph were the disrespectful +and often scurrilous verses chanted by the soldiers at the expense of +their general--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: The meaning of this passage is obscure. Many +explanations have been attempted, none of which, to my mind, is quite +satisfactory.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 40: Priest of Quirinus.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 41: The law forbade burial within the limits of the city +except in certain cases.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: That is, relinquished his right of acting as judge in +favour of the people and of popular trial.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 43: A new law was hung up in the Forum for public +perusal.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 44: As in the case of a dictator. At first half, and finally +all, of the consular lictors carried only the fasces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: That is, the incumbents of the past year, now of right +private persons, their term of office having expired.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: The fine for non-attendance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: As being out of order, the senate having been convened +to consider the war.] + +[Footnote 48: Rex Sacrificulus (see note, page 73).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: As having been improperly convened.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 50: That is, of Valerius, but rather of Appius himself in +restraining him from precipitating matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: Appius's argument is that, if Verginia was living in a +state of slavery under Claudius, as any one might institute an action +to establish her liberty, she would be entitled to her liberty until +the matter was settled: but as she was now living under her father's +protection, and was his property by the right of the patria potestas, +and he was absent, and as other person had a right to keep or defend +her, she ought to be given up to the man who claimed to be her master, +pending her father's return.] + +[Footnote 52: Venus Cloacina (she who cleanses).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: On two sides of the forum were colonnades, between the +pillars of which were tradesmen's booths known as "the Old Booths" and +"the New Booths."] + +[Footnote 54: That is, to the infernal gods.] + +[Footnote 55: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome: Verginia."] + +[Footnote 56: The civilian togas.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: Appius Claudius, a member of their order.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: From the Colline gate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: From whose decision an appeal would lie.] + +[Footnote 60: The church of S. Caterina de' Fernari now stands within +its lines.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 61: Evidently this could not apply to a dictator.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: The name consul, although used by Livy (Bk. I, ch. Ix), +was not really employed until after the period of the decemvirs. The +title in early use was prætor: it is not definitely known when the +name judex was attached to the office.] + +[Footnote 63: I question the rendering of this sentence. To read +plebis for plebi would very much improve the sense.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 64: Twenty years.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 65: The misfortunes of the previous campaign were supposed +to exert an influence on the present one.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: The cavalry at this period wore no defensive armour, and +carried only an ox-hide buckler and a light lance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: A victorious general who had entered the city could not +afterward triumph.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: It was first necessary for these to be adopted into +plebeian families, as none but plebeians were eligible.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: It stood about where the Arch of Gallienus now +stands.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: Each legion was divided into ten cohorts.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: A not unusual method of forcing the charge, as not +only military honour but religious sentiment forbade the loss of the +standards.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 72: About twenty miles from Rome in the Alban Mountains. The +village of Ariccia occupies the site of the ancient citadel.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 73: Quadruplatores were public informers, so called because +they received a fourth part of the fine imposed: also used in a +general sense of those who tried to promote their interests by +underhand means.] + +[Footnote 74: This is one of the best of Livy's books. The story of +Verginia and of the deposition and punishment of the decemvirs is +unexcelled in historical narrative.--D.O.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Roman History, Books I-III, by Titus Livius + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN HISTORY, BOOKS I-III *** + +***** This file should be named 10828-8.txt or 10828-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/2/10828/ + +Produced by Jayam Subramanian, Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10828-8.zip b/old/10828-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..12b02a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10828-8.zip diff --git a/old/10828.txt b/old/10828.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d130a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10828.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10542 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman History, Books I-III, by Titus Livius + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman History, Books I-III + +Author: Titus Livius + +Release Date: January 25, 2004 [EBook #10828] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN HISTORY, BOOKS I-III *** + + + + +Produced by Jayam Subramanian, Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +ROMAN HISTORY + +By + +Titus Livius + + +Translated by + + +John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb + + +With a Critical and Biographical Introduction and Notes by Duffield +Osborne + + +Illustrated + +1904 + + + +LIVY'S HISTORY + +Of the lost treasures of classical literature, it is doubtful whether +any are more to be regretted than the missing books of Livy. That +they existed in approximate entirety down to the fifth century, and +possibly even so late as the fifteenth, adds to this regret. At the +same time it leaves in a few sanguine minds a lingering hope that some +unvisited convent or forgotten library may yet give to the world a +work that must always be regarded as one of the greatest of Roman +masterpieces. The story that the destruction of Livy was effected by +order of Pope Gregory I, on the score of the superstitions contained +in the historian's pages, never has been fairly substantiated, and +therefore I prefer to acquit that pontiff of the less pardonable +superstition involved in such an act of fanatical vandalism. That the +books preserved to us would be by far the most objectionable from +Gregory's alleged point of view may be noted for what it is worth in +favour of the theory of destruction by chance rather than by design. + +Here is the inventory of what we have and of what we might have had. +The entire work of Livy--a work that occupied more than forty years +of his life--was contained in one hundred and forty-two books, which +narrated the history of Rome, from the supposed landing of AEneas, +through the early years of the empire of Augustus, and down to the +death of Drusus, B.C. 9. Books I-X, containing the story of early +Rome to the year 294 B.C., the date of the final subjugation of the +Samnites and the consequent establishment of the Roman commonwealth as +the controlling power in Italy, remain to us. These, by the accepted +chronology, represent a period of four hundred and sixty years. Books +XI-XX, being the second "decade," according to a division attributed +to the fifth century of our era are missing. They covered seventy-five +years, and brought the narrative down to the beginning of the second +Punic war. Books XXI-XLV have been saved, though those of the fifth +"decade" are imperfect. They close with the triumph of AEmilius, in 167 +B.C., and the reduction of Macedonia to a Roman province. Of the other +books, only a few fragments remain, the most interesting of which +(from Book CXX) recounts the death of Cicero, and gives what appears +to be a very just estimate of his character. We have epitomes of all +the lost books, with the exception of ten; but these are so scanty as +to amount to little more than tables of contents. Their probable date +is not later than the time of Trajan. To summarize the result, then, +thirty-five books have been saved and one hundred and seven lost--a +most deplorable record, especially when we consider that in the later +books the historian treated of times and events whereof his means of +knowledge were adequate to his task. + +TITUS LIVIUS was born at Patavium, the modern Padua, some time between +61 and 57 B.C. Of his parentage and early life nothing is known. It +is easy to surmise that he was well born, from his political bias in +favour of the aristocratic party, and from the evident fact of his +having received a liberal education; yet the former of these arguments +is not at all inconsistent with the opposite supposition, and the +latter should lead to no very definite conclusion when we remember +that in his days few industries were more profitable than the higher +education of slaves for the pampered Roman market. Niebuhr infers, +from a sentence quoted by Quintilian, that Livy began life as a +teacher of rhetoric. However that may be, it seems certain that he +came to Rome about 30 B.C., was introduced to Augustus and won his +patronage and favour, and after the death of his great patron and +friend retired to the city of his birth, where he died, 17 A.D. It +is probable that he had fixed the date of the Emperor's death as the +limit of his history, and that his own decease cut short his task. + +No historian ever told a story more delightfully. The available +translations leave much to be desired, but to the student of Latin +Livy's style is pure and simple, and possesses that charm which purity +and simplicity always give. If there is anything to justify the charge +of "Patavinity," or provincialism, made by Asinius Pollio, we, at +least, are not learned enough in Latin to detect it; and Pollio, too, +appears to have been no gentle critic if we may judge by his equally +severe strictures upon Cicero, Caesar, and Sallust. This much we know: +the Patavian's heroes live; his events happen, and we are carried +along upon their tide. Our sympathies, our indignation, our +enthusiasm, are summoned into being, and history and fiction appear to +walk hand in hand for our instruction and amusement. In this latter +word--fiction--lies the charge most often and most strongly made +against him--the charge that he has written a story and no more; that +with him past time existed but to furnish materials "to point a moral +or adorn a tale." Let us consider to what extent this is true, and, if +true, in what measure the author has sinned by it or we have lost. + +No one would claim that the rules by which scientific historians of +to-day are judged should be applied to those that wrote when history +was young, when the boundaries between the possible and the impossible +were less clearly defined, or when, in fact, such boundaries hardly +existed in men's minds. In this connection, even while we vaunt, we +smile. After all, how much of our modern and so-called scientific +history must strike the reasoning reader as mere theorizing or as +special pleading based upon the slenderest evidence! Among the +ancients the work of the historians whom we consider trustworthy--such +writers, for instance, as Caesar, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, and +Tacitus--may be said to fall generally within Rawlinson's canons 1 and +2 of historical criticism--that is, (1) cases where the historian has +personal knowledge concerning the facts whereof he writes, or (2) +where the facts are such that he may reasonably be supposed to have +obtained them from contemporary witnesses. Canon 2 might be elaborated +and refined very considerably and perhaps to advantage. It naturally +includes as sources of knowledge--first, personal interviews with +contemporary witnesses; and, second, accesses to the writings of +historians whose opportunities brought them within canon 1. In this +latter case the evidence would be less convincing, owing to the lack +of opportunity to cross-question, though even here apparent lack of +bias or the existence of biased testimony on both sides, from which a +judicious man might have a fair chance to extract the truth, would go +far to cure the defect. + +The point, however, to which I tend is, that the portions of Livy's +history from which we must judge of his trustworthiness treat, for the +most part, of periods concerning which even his evidence was of the +scantiest and poorest description. He doubtless had family records, +funeral panegyrics, and inscription--all of which were possibly almost +as reliable as those of our own day. Songs sung at festivals and +handed down by tradition may or may not be held more truthful. These +he had as well; but the government records, the ancient fasti, had +been destroyed at the time of the burning of the city by the Gauls, +and there is no hint of any Roman historian that lived prior to the +date of the second Punic war. Thus we may safely infer that Livy wrote +of the first five hundred years without the aid of any contemporary +evidence, either approximately complete or ostensibly reliable. With +the beginning of the second Punic war began also the writing of +history. Quintus Fabius Pictor had left a work, which Polybius +condemned on the score of its evident partiality. Lucius Cincius +Alimentus, whose claim to knowledge if not to impartiality rests +largely on the fact that he was captured and held prisoner by +Hannibal, also left memoirs; but Hannibal was not famous for treating +prisoners mildly, and the Romans, most cruel themselves in this +respect, were always deeply scandalized by a much less degree of +harshness on the part of their enemies. Above all, there was Polybius +himself, who perhaps approaches nearer to the critical historian than +any writer of antiquity, and it is Polybius upon whom Livy mainly +relies through his third, fourth, and fifth decades. The works of +Fabius and Cincius are lost. So also are those of the Lacedaemonian +Sosilus and the Sicilian Silanus, who campaigned with Hannibal and +wrote the Carthaginian side of the story; nor is there any evidence +that either Polybius or Livy had access to their writings. Polybius, +then, may be said to be the only reliable source from which Livy could +draw for any of his extant books, and before condemning unqualifiedly +in the cases where he deserts him and harks back to Roman authorities +we must remember that Livy was a strong nationalist, one of a people +who, despite their conquests, were essentially narrow, prejudiced, +egotistical; and, thus remembering, we must marvel that he so fully +recognises the merit of his unprejudiced guide and wanders as little +as he does. All told, it is quite certain that he has dealt more +fairly by Hannibal than have Alison and other English historians by +Napoleon. His unreliability consists rather in his conclusions than in +his facts, and it is unquestioned that through all the pages of +the third decade he has so told the story of the man most hated by +Rome--the deadliest enemy she had ever encountered--that the reader +can not fail to feel the greatness of Hannibal dominating every +chapter. + +Referring again to the criticisms made so lavishly upon Livy's story +of the earlier centuries, it is well to recall the contention of the +hard-headed Scotchman Ferguson, that with all our critical acumen we +have found no sure ground to rest upon until we reach the second Punic +war. Niebuhr, on the other hand, whose German temperament is alike +prone to delve or to theorize, is disposed to think--with considerable +generosity to our abilities, it appears to me--that we may yet evolve +a fairly true history of Rome from the foundation of the commonwealth. +As to the times of the kings, it is admitted that we know nothing, +while from the founding of the commonwealth to the second Punic war +the field may be described as, at the best, but a battle-ground for +rival theories. + +The ancient historian had, as a rule, little to do with such +considerations or controversies. In the lack of solid evidence he had +only to write down the accepted story of the origin of things, as +drawn from the lips of poetry, legend, or tradition, and it was +for Livy to write thus or not at all. Even here the honesty of his +intention is apparent. For much of his early history he does not claim +more than is claimed for it by many of his modern critics, while time +and again he pauses to express a doubt as to the credibility of some +incident. A notable instance of this is found in his criticism of +those stories most dear to the Roman heart--the stories of the birth +and apotheosis of Romulus. On the other hand, if he has given free +life to many beautiful legends that were undoubtedly current and +believed for centuries, is it heresy to avow that these as such seem +to me of more true value to the antiquary than if they had been +subjected at their historical inception to the critical and +theoretical methods of to-day? I can not hold Livy quite unpardonable +even when following, as he often does, such authorities as the Furian +family version of the redemption of the city by the arms of their +progenitor Camillus, instead of by the payment of the agreed ransom, +as modern writers consider proven, while his putting of set speeches +into the mouths of his characters may be described as a conventional +usage of ancient historians, which certainly added to the liveliness +of the narrative and probably was neither intended to be taken +literally nor resulted in deceiving any one. + +Reverting for a moment to Livy's honesty and frankness, so far as his +intent might govern such qualities, I think no stronger evidence in +his favour can be found than his avowed republican leanings at the +court of Augustus and his just estimate of Cicero's character in the +face of the favour of a prince by whose consent the great orator had +been assassinated. Above all, it must have been a fearless and honest +man who could swing the scourge with which he lashed his degenerate +countrymen in those stinging words, "The present times, when we can +endure neither our vices nor their remedies." + +Nevertheless, and despite the facts that Livy means to be honest and +that he questions much on grounds that would not shame the repute of +many of his modern critics, the charge is doubtless true that his +writings are not free from prejudice in favour of his country. That he +definitely regarded history rather as a moral agency and a lesson for +the future than as an irrefutable narrative of the past, I consider +highly hypothetical; but it is probable that his mind was not of the +type that is most diligent in the close, exhaustive, and logical study +so necessary to the historian of today. "Superficial," if we could +eliminate the reproach in the word, would perhaps go far toward +describing him. He is what we would call a popular rather than a +scientific writer, and, since we think somewhat lightly of such when +they write on what we consider scientific subjects, we are too apt to +transfer their light repute to an author who wrote popularly at a time +when this treatment was best adapted to his audience, his aims, and +the material at his command. That he has survived through all these +centuries, and has enjoyed, despite all criticism, the position in +the literature of the world which his very critics have united +in conceding to him, is perhaps a stronger commendation than any +technical approval. + +From the standpoint of the present work it was felt that selections +aggregating seven books would accomplish all the purposes of a +complete presentation. The editors have chosen the first three books +of the first decade as telling what no one can better tell than Livy: +the stories and legends connected with the foundation and early life +of Rome. Here, as I have said, there was nothing for him to do but cut +loose from all trammels and hang breathless, pen in hand, upon the +lips of tradition. None can hold but that her faithful scribe has writ +down her words with all their ancient colour, with reverence reigning +over his heart; however doubts might lurk within his brain. These +books close with the restoration of the consular power, after the +downfall of the tyrannical rule of the Decemvirs, the revolution +following upon the attempt of Appius Claudius to seize Virginia, the +daughter of a citizen who, rather than see his child fall into the +clutches of the cruel patrician, killed her with his own hand in the +marketplace, and, rushing into the camp with the bloody knife, caused +the soldiers to revolt. The second section comprises Books XXI-XXIV, a +part of the narrative of the second Punic war, a military exploit the +most remarkable the world has ever seen. + +The question who was the greatest general that ever lived has been a +fruitful source of discussion, and Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon have +each found numerous and ardent supporters. Without decrying the signal +abilities of these chiefs, it must nevertheless be remembered that +each commanded a homogeneous army and had behind him a compact nation +the most warlike and powerful of his time. The adversaries also of the +Greek and the Roman were in the one instance an effete power already +falling to pieces by its own internal weakness, and in the other, for +the most part, scattered tribes of barbarians without unity of purpose +or military discipline. Even in his civil wars Caesar's armies were +veterans, and those of the commonwealth were, comparatively speaking, +recruits. But when the reader of these pages carefully considers +the story of Hannibal's campaign in Italy, what does he find? Two +nations--one Caucasian, young, warlike above all its contemporaries, +with a record behind it of steady aggrandizement and almost unbroken +victory, a nation every citizen of which was a soldier. On the other +side, a race of merchants Semitic in blood, a city whose citizens had +long since ceased to go to war, preferring that their gold should +fight for them by the hands of mercenaries of every race and +clime--hirelings whose ungoverned valour had proved almost as deadly +to their employers and generals as to their enemies. Above all, the +same battle had been joined before when Rome was weaker and Carthage +stronger, and Carthage had already shown her weakness and Rome her +strength. + +And now in this renewed war we see a young man, aided only by a little +group of compatriots, welding together army of the most heterogeneous +elements--Spaniards, Gauls, Numidians, Moors, Greeks--men of almost +every race except his own. We see him cutting loose from his base of +supplies, leaving enemies behind him, to force his way through +hostile races, through unknown lands bristling with almost impassable +mountains and frigid with snow and ice. We see him conquering here, +making friends and allies there, and, more wonderful than all, holding +his mongrel horde together through hardships and losses by the force +of his character alone. We see him at last descending into the plains +of Italy. We see him not merely defeating but annihilating army after +army more numerous than his own and composed of better raw material. +We see him, unaided, ranging from end to end of the peninsula, none +daring to meet him with opposing standards, and the greatest general +of Rome winning laurels because he knew enough to recognise his own +hopeless inferiority. All stories of reverses other than those of mere +detachments may pretty safely be set down as the exaggeration of Roman +writers. Situated as was Hannibal, the loss of one marshalled field +would have meant immediate ruin, and ruin never came when he fought +in Italy. On the contrary, without supplies save what his sword could +take, without friends save what his genius and his fortune could win, +he maintained his place and his superiority not for one or for two but +through fourteen years, during all which time we hear no murmur +of mutiny, no hint of aught but obedience and devotion among the +incongruous and unruly elements from which he had fashioned his +invincible army; and at the end we see him leaving Italy of his own +free will, at the call of his country, to waste himself in a vain +effort to save her from the blunders of other leaders and from the +penalty of inherent weakness, which only his sword had so long warded +off. + +When I consider the means, the opposition, and the achievement--a +combination of elements by which alone we can judge such questions +with even approximate fairness--I can not but feel that of all +military exploits this invasion of Italy, which we shall read of here, +was the most remarkable; that of all commanders Hannibal has shown +himself to be the greatest. Some of Livy's charges against him as a +man are doubtless true. Avarice was in his blood; and cruelty also, +though it ill became a Roman to chide an enemy on that score. Besides, +Livy himself tells how Hannibal had sought for the bodies of the +generals he had slain, that he might give them the rites of honourable +sepulture; tells it, and in the next breath relates how the Roman +commander mutilated the corpse of the fallen Hasdrubal and threw the +head into his brother's camp. So, too, his naive explanation that +Hannibal's "more than Punic perfidy" consisted mainly of ambushes +and similar military strategies goes to show, as I have said, that +whatever is unjust in our author's estimate was rather the result of +the prejudiced deductions of national egotism than of facts wilfully +or carelessly distorted by partisan spite. + +To the reader who bears well in mind the points I have ventured to +make, I predict profit hardly less than pleasure in these pages; for +Livy is perhaps the only historian who may be said to have been honest +enough to furnish much of the material for criticism of himself, and +to be, to a very considerable extent, self-adjusting. + +DUFFIELD OSBORNE. + + + +THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE [1] + +Whether in tracing the history of the Roman people, from the +foundation of the city, I shall employ myself to a useful purpose, I +am neither very certain, nor, if I were, dare I say; inasmuch as I +observe that it is both an old and hackneyed practice, later authors +always supposing that they will either adduce something more authentic +in the facts, or, that they will excel the less polished ancients in +their style of writing. Be that as it may, it will, at all events, +be a satisfaction to me that I too have contributed my share to +perpetuate the achievements of a people, the lords of the world; and +if, amid so great a number of historians, my reputation should remain +in obscurity, I may console myself with the celebrity and lustre of +those who shall stand in the way of my fame. Moreover, the subject is +of immense labour, as being one which must be traced back for more +than seven hundred years, and which, having set out from small +beginnings, has increased to such a degree that it is now distressed +by its own magnitude. And, to most readers, I doubt not but that the +first origin and the events immediately succeeding, will afford but +little pleasure, while they will be hastening to these later times, in +which the strength of this overgrown people has for a long period been +working its own destruction. I, on the contrary, shall seek this, as +a reward of my labour, viz., to withdraw myself from the view of the +calamities, which our age has witnessed for so many years, so long as +I am reviewing with my whole attention these ancient times, being free +from every care that may distract a writer's mind, though it can not +warp it from the truth. The traditions that have come down to us of +what happened before the building of the city, or before its building +was contemplated, as being suitable rather to the fictions of poetry +than to the genuine records of history, I have no intention either to +affirm or to refute. This indulgence is conceded to antiquity, that by +blending things human with divine, it may make the origin of cities +appear more venerable: and if any people might be allowed to +consecrate their origin, and to ascribe it to the gods as its authors, +such is the renown of the Roman people in war, that when they +represent Mars, in particular, as their own parent and that of their +founder, the nations of the world may submit to this as patiently +as they submit to their sovereignty. But in whatever way these and +similar matters shall be attended to, or judged of, I shall not +deem it of great importance. I would have every man apply his mind +seriously to consider these points, viz., what their life and what +their manners were; through what men and by what measures, both in +peace and in war, their empire was acquired and extended; then, as +discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their +morals, at first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and +more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, +when we can endure neither our vices nor their remedies. This it is +which is particularly salutary and profitable in the study of history, +that you behold instances of every variety of conduct displayed on a +conspicuous monument; that thence you may select for yourself and for +your country that which you may imitate; thence note what is shameful +in the undertaking, and shameful in the result, which you may avoid. +But either a fond partiality for the task I have undertaken deceives +me, or there never was any state either greater, or more moral, or +richer in good examples, nor one into which luxury and avarice made +their entrance so late, and where poverty and frugality were so much +and so long honoured; so that the less wealth there was, the less +desire was there. Of late, riches have introduced avarice and +excessive pleasures a longing for them, amid luxury and a passion for +ruining ourselves and destroying everything else. But let complaints, +which will not be agreeable even then, when perhaps they will be also +necessary, be kept aloof at least from the first stage of beginning so +great a work. We should rather, if it was usual with us (historians) +as it is with poets, begin with good omens, vows and prayers to the +gods and goddesses to vouchsafe good success to our efforts in so +arduous an undertaking. + +[Footnote 1: The tone of dignified despondency which pervades this +remarkable preface tells us much. That the republican historian was +no timid or time-serving flatterer of prince or public is more than +clear, while his unerring judgment of the future should bring much of +respect for his judgment of the past. When he wrote, Rome was more +powerful than ever. Only the seeds of ruin were visible, yet he +already divines their full fruitage.--D. O.] + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS--B.C. 510 + +Arrival of AEneas in Italy--Ascanius founds Alba Longa--Birth of +Romulus and Remus--Founding the city--Rome under the kings--Death of +Lucretia--Expulsion of the Tarquins--First consuls elected + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH--B.C. 509-468 + +Brutus establishes the republic--A conspiracy to receive the kings +into the city--Death of Brutus--Dedication of the Capitol--Battle of +Lake Regillus--Secession of the commons to the Sacred Mount--Five +tribunes of the people appointed--First proposal of an agrarian +law--Patriotism of the Fabian family--Contests of the plebeians and +patricians + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE--B.C. 468-446 + +Disturbances over the agrarian law--Cincinnatus called from his fields +and made dictator--Number of tribunes increased to ten--Decemvirs +appointed--The ten tables--Tyranny of the decemvirs--Death of +Virginia--Re-establishment of the consular and tribunician power + + + + +LIVY'S ROMAN HISTORY + + +BOOK I[1] + +THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS + +To begin with, it is generally admitted that, after the taking of +Troy, while all the other Trojans were treated with severity, in the +case of two, AEneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore to exercise the +full rights of war, both on account of an ancient tie of hospitality, +and because they had persistently recommended peace and the +restoration of Helen: and then Antenor, after various vicissitudes, +reached the inmost bay of the Adriatic Sea, accompanied by a body of +the Eneti, who had been driven from Paphlagonia by civil disturbance, +and were in search both of a place of settlement and a leader, their +chief Pylaemenes having perished at Troy; and that the Eneti and +Trojans, having driven out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and +the Alps, occupied these districts. In fact, the place where they +first landed is called Troy, and from this it is named the Trojan +canton. The nation as a whole is called Veneti. It is also agreed that +AEneas, an exile from home owing to a like misfortune, but conducted +by the fates to the founding of a greater empire, came first to +Macedonia, that he was then driven ashore at Sicily in his quest for a +settlement, and sailing thence directed his course to the territory of +Laurentum. This spot also bears the name of Troy. When the Trojans, +having disembarked there, were driving off booty from the country, as +was only natural, seeing that they had nothing left but their arms and +ships after their almost boundless wandering, Latinus the king and the +Aborigines, who then occupied these districts, assembled in arms from +the city and country to repel the violence of the new-comers. In +regard to what followed there is a twofold tradition. Some say that +Latinus, having been defeated in battle, first made peace and then +concluded an alliance with AEneas; others, that when the armies had +taken up their position in order of battle, before the trumpets +sounded, Latinus advanced to the front, and invited the leader of the +strangers to a conference. He then inquired what manner of men they +were, whence they had come, for what reasons they had left their home, +and in quest of what they had landed on Laurentine territory. After +he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief AEneas, the son of +Anchises and Venus, and that, exiled from home, their country having +been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a settlement and a site for +building a city, struck with admiration both at the noble character of +the nation and the hero, and at their spirit, ready alike for peace or +war, he ratified the pledge of future friendship by clasping hands. +Thereupon a treaty was concluded between the chiefs, and mutual +greetings passed between the armies: AEneas was hospitably entertained +at the house of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his +household gods, cemented the public league by a family one, by giving +AEneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans +in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and +permanent settlement. They built a town, which AEneas called Lavinium +after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward also, a son was the +issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the +name of Ascanius. + +Aborigines and Trojans were soon afterward the joint objects of a +hostile attack. Turnus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had +been affianced before the arrival of AEneas, indignant that a stranger +had been preferred to himself, had made war on AEneas and Latinus +together. Neither army came out of the struggle with satisfaction. The +Rutulians were vanquished: the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost +their leader Latinus. Thereupon Turnus and the Rutulians, mistrustful +of their strength, had recourse to the prosperous and powerful +Etruscans, and their king Mezentius, whose seat of government was at +Caere, at that time a flourishing town. Even from the outset he had +viewed with dissatisfaction the founding of a new city, and, as at +that time he considered that the Trojan power was increasing far more +than was altogether consistent with the safety of the neighbouring +peoples, he readily joined his forces in alliance with the Rutulians. +AEneas, to gain the good-will of the Aborigines in face of a war so +serious and alarming, and in order that they might all be not only +under the same laws but might also bear the same name, called both +nations Latins. In fact, subsequently, the Aborigines were not behind +the Trojans in zeal and loyalty toward their king AEneas. Accordingly, +in full reliance on this state of mind of the two nations, who were +daily becoming more and more united, and in spite of the fact that +Etruria was so powerful, that at this time it had filled with the fame +of its renown not only the land but the sea also, throughout the whole +length of Italy from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, AEneas led out +his forces into the field, although he might have repelled their +attack by means of his fortifications. Thereupon a battle was fought, +in which victory rested with the Latins, but for AEneas it was even the +last of his acts on earth. He, by whatever name laws human and divine +demand he should be called, was buried on the banks of the river +Numicus: they call him Jupiter Indiges. + +Ascanius, the son of AEneas, was not yet old enough to rule; the +government, however, remained unassailed for him till he reached the +age of maturity. In the interim, under the regency of a woman--so +great was Lavinia's capacity--the Latin state and the boy's kingdom, +inherited from his father and grandfather, was secured for him. I will +not discuss the question--for who can state as certain a matter of +such antiquity?--whether it was this Ascanius, or one older than +he, born of Creusa, before the fall of Troy, and subsequently the +companion of his father's flight, the same whom, under the name of +Iulus, the Julian family represents to be the founder of its name. +Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever +mother--it is at any rate agreed that his father was AEneas--seeing +that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now a flourishing +and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, +and built himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, +from its situation, being built all along the ridge of a hill, was +called Alba Longa. + +There was an interval of about thirty years between the founding of +Lavinium and the transplanting of the colony to Alba Longa. Yet its +power had increased to such a degree, especially owing to the +defeat of the Etruscans, that not even on the death of AEneas, nor +subsequently between the period of the regency of Lavinia, and the +first beginnings of the young prince's reign, did either Mezentius, +the Etruscans, or any other neighbouring peoples venture to take up +arms against it. Peace had been concluded on the following terms, that +the river Albula, which is now called Tiber, should be the boundary of +Latin and Etruscan territory. After him Silvius, son of Ascanius, born +by some accident in the woods, became king. He was the father of AEneas +Silvius, who afterward begot Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies +were transplanted, which were called Prisci Latini. From this time +all the princes, who ruled at Alba, bore the surname of Silvius. From +Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys; from Capys, +Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, having been drowned while +crossing the river Albula, gave it the name by which it was generally +known among those of later times. He was succeeded by Agrippa, son +of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, having received +the government from his father, became king. He was killed by a +thunderbolt, and handed on the kingdom to Aventinus, who, owing to his +being buried on that hill, which now forms part of the city of Rome, +gave it its name. After him reigned Proca, who begot Numitor and +Amulius. To Numitor, who was the eldest son, he bequeathed the ancient +kingdom of the Silvian family. Force, however, prevailed more than a +father's wish or the respect due to seniority. Amulius drove out his +brother and seized the kingdom: he added crime to crime, murdered +his brother's male issue, and, under pretence of doing honour to his +brother's daughter, Rea Silvia, having chosen her a Vestal Virgin,[2] +deprived her of all hopes of issue by the obligation of perpetual +virginity. + +My opinion, however, is that the origin of so great a city and an +empire next in power to that of the gods was due to the fates. The +Vestal Rea was ravished by force, and having brought forth twins, +declared Mars to be the father of her illegitimate offspring, either +because she really imagined it to be the case, or because it was less +discreditable to have committed such an offence with a god.[3] But +neither gods nor men protected either her or her offspring from the +king's cruelty. The priestess was bound and cast into prison; the king +ordered the children to be thrown into the flowing river. By some +chance which Providence seemed to direct, the Tiber, having over flown +its banks, thereby forming stagnant pools, could not be approached at +the regular course of its channel; notwithstanding it gave the bearers +of the children hope that they could be drowned in its water however +calm. Accordingly, as if they had executed the king's orders, they +exposed the boys in the nearest land-pool, where now stands the ficus +Ruminalis, which they say was called Romularis.[4] At that time the +country in those parts was a desolate wilderness. The story goes, that +when the shallow water, subsiding, had left the floating trough, in +which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf +from the mountains around directed her course toward the cries of the +infants, and held down her teats to them with such gentleness, that +the keeper of the king's herd found her licking the boys with her +tongue. They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were +carried by him to his homestead and given to his wife Larentia to be +brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called Lupa +among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an +opening was afforded for the marvellous story. The children, thus born +and thus brought up, as soon as they reached the age of youth, did +not lead a life of inactivity at home or amid the flocks, but, in the +chase, scoured the forests. Having thus gained strength, both in body +and spirit, they now were not only able to withstand wild beasts, but +attacked robbers laden with booty, and divided the spoils with the +shepherds, in whose company, as the number of their young associates +increased daily, they carried on business and pleasure. + +Even in these early times it is said that the festival of the +Lupercal, as now celebrated, was solemnized on the Palatine Hill, +which was first called Pallantium, from Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, +and afterward Mount Palatius. There Evander, who, belonging to the +above tribe of the Arcadians, had for many years before occupied +these districts, is said to have appointed the observance of a solemn +festival, introduced from Arcadia, in which naked youths ran about +doing honour in wanton sport to Pan Lycaeus, who was afterward called +Inuus by the Romans. When they were engaged in this festival, as its +periodical solemnization was well known, a band of robbers, enraged at +the loss of some booty, lay in wait for them, and took Remus prisoner, +Romulus having vigorously defended himself: the captive Remus they +delivered up to King Amulius, and even went so far as to bring +accusations against him. They made it the principal charge that having +made incursions into Numitor's lands, and, having assembled a band +of young men, they had driven off their booty after the manner +of enemies. Accordingly, Remus was delivered up to Numitor for +punishment. Now from the very first Faustulus had entertained hopes +that the boys who were being brought up by him, were of royal blood: +for he both knew that the children had been exposed by the king's +orders, and that the time, at which he had taken them up, coincided +exactly with that period: but he had been unwilling to disclose +the matter, as yet not ripe for discovery, till either a fitting +opportunity or the necessity for it should arise. Necessity came +first. Accordingly, urged by fear, he disclosed the whole affair to +Romulus. By accident also, Numitor, while he had Remus in custody, +having heard that the brothers were twins, by comparing their age and +their natural disposition entirely free from servility, felt his mind +struck by the recollection of his grandchildren, and by frequent +inquiries came to the conclusion he had already formed, so that he +was not far from openly acknowledging Remus. Accordingly a plot was +concerted against the king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a +body of young men--for he was not equal to open violence--but having +commanded the shepherds to come to the palace by different roads at +a fixed time, made an attack upon the king, while Remus, having got +together another party from Numitor's house, came to his assistance; +and so they slew the king. + +Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, giving out that enemies had +invaded the city and attacked the palace, after he had drawn off the +Alban youth to the citadel to secure it with an armed garrison, when +he saw the young men, after they had compassed the king's death, +advancing toward him to offer congratulations, immediately summoned a +meeting of the people, and recounted his brother's unnatural behaviour +toward him, the extraction of his grandchildren, the manner of their +birth, bringing up, and recognition, and went on to inform them of the +king's death, and that he was responsible for it. The young princes +advanced through the midst of the assembly with their band in orderly +array, and, after they had saluted their grandfather as king, a +succeeding shout of approbation, issuing from the whole multitude, +ratified for him the name and authority of sovereign. The government +of Alba being thus intrusted to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized +with the desire of building a city on the spot where they had been +exposed and brought up. Indeed, the number of Alban and Latin +inhabitants was too great for the city; the shepherds also were +included among that population, and all these readily inspired hopes +that Alba and Lavinium would be insignificant in comparison with that +city, which was intended to be built. But desire of rule, the bane +of their grandfather, interrupted these designs, and thence arose a +shameful quarrel from a sufficiently amicable beginning. For as they +were twins, and consequently the respect for seniority could not +settle the point, they agreed to leave it to the gods, under whose +protection the place was, to choose by augury which of them should +give a name to the new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose +the Palatine and Remus the Aventine, as points of observation for +taking the auguries. + +It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and +when, after the omen had been declared, twice that number presented +themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own party, the +former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the +latter on account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and +exchanged angry words, from the strife of angry feelings they turned +to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the crowd. A +more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped +over the newly-erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in +a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:" +So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus +Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The +city, when built, was called after the name of its founder.[5] He +first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he himself had +been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the +Grecian rite, as they had been instituted by Evander; to the other +gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a tradition that Hercules, +having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing +beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the +banks of the river Tiber, where he had swam across, driving the cattle +before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant pasture, being +also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had +overpowered him, heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who +dwelt in the neighbourhood, by name Cacus, priding himself on his +strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to carry +them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of +him to the cave, their tracks must have conducted their owner thither +in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of them by their tails +backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having +looked over his herd and observed that some of their number were +missing, went straight to the nearest cave, to see whether perchance +their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned away +from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what +to make up his mind to do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so +dangerous a spot. Thereupon some of the cows that were driven away, +lowed, as they usually do, when they missed those that were left; and +the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from +the cave, caused Hercules to turn round. And when Cacus attempted +to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the cave, he was +struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds +to assist him. At that time Evander, who was an exile from the +Peloponnesus, governed the country more by his personal ascendancy +than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account +of the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men +ignorant of accomplishments,[7] and still more revered on account of +the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those peoples had +marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy. +This Evander, roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they +hastily crowded round the stranger, who was charged with open murder, +after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it, gazing +upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more +dignified and majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon +as he heard the name of the hero, and that of his father and native +country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother, +truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that +thou art destined to increase the number of the heavenly beings, and +that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee, which in after +ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in +accordance with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him +his right hand, declared that he accepted the prophetic intimation, +and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and +dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was +offered to Hercules with a choice heifer taken from the herd, the +Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished families who then +inhabited those parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so +happened that the Potitii presented themselves in due time and the +entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until +the entrails had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast. +From that time it became a settled institution, that, as long as the +Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of +the sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instructed by Evander, +discharged the duties of chief priests of this sacred function +for many generations, until their whole race became extinct, in +consequence of this office, the solemn prerogative of their family, +being delegated to public slaves. These were the only religious rites +that Romulus at that time adopted from those of foreign countries, +being even then an advocate of immortality won by merit, to which the +destiny marked out for him was conducting him. + +The duties of religion having been thus duly completed, the people +were summoned to a public meeting: and, as they could not be united +and incorporated into one body by any other means save legal +ordinances, Romulus gave them a code of laws: and, judging that these +would only be respected by a nation of rustics, if he dignified +himself with the insignia of royalty, he clothed himself with greater +majesty--above all, by taking twelve lictors to attend him, but also +in regard to his other appointments. Some are of opinion that he was +influenced in his choice of that number by that of the birds which had +foretold that sovereign power should be his when the auguries were +taken. I myself am not indisposed to follow the opinion of those, +who are inclined to believe that it was from the neighbouring +Etruscans--from whom the curule chair and purple-bordered toga were +borrowed--that the apparitors of this class, as well as the number +itself, were introduced: and that the Etruscans employed such a number +because, as their king was elected from twelve states in common, each +state assigned him one lictor. + +In the meantime, the city was enlarged by taking in various plots of +ground for the erection of buildings, while they built rather in the +hope of an increased population in the future, than in view of the +actual number of the inhabitants of the city at that time. Next, that +the size of the city might not be without efficiency, in order to +increase the population, following the ancient policy of founders of +cities, who, by bringing together to their side a mean and ignoble +multitude, were in the habit of falsely asserting that an offspring +was born to them from the earth, he opened as a sanctuary the place +which, now inclosed, is known as the "two groves," and which people +come upon when descending from the Capitol. Thither, a crowd of all +classes from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction, whether +freemen or slaves, eager for change, flocked for refuge, and therein +lay the foundation of the city's strength, corresponding to the +commencement of its enlargement. Having now no reason to be +dissatisfied with his strength, he next instituted a standing council +to direct that strength. He created one hundred senators, either +because that number was sufficient, or because there were only one +hundred who could be so elected. Anyhow they were called fathers[8], +by way of respect, and their descendants patricians. + +By this time the Roman state was so powerful, that it was a match for +any of the neighbouring states in war: but owing to the scarcity of +women its greatness was not likely to outlast the existing generation, +seeing that the Romans had no hope of issue at home, and they did +not intermarry with their neighbours. So then, by the advice of the +senators, Romulus sent around ambassadors to the neighbouring states, +to solicit an alliance and the right of intermarriage for his new +subjects, saying, that cities, like everything else, rose from the +humblest beginnings: next, that those which the gods and their own +merits assisted, gained for themselves great power and high renown: +that he knew full well that the gods had aided the first beginnings of +Rome and that merit on their part would not be wanting: therefore, as +men, let them not be reluctant to mix their blood and stock with men. +The embassy nowhere obtained a favourable hearing: but, although the +neighbouring peoples treated it with such contempt, yet at the same +time they dreaded the growth of such a mighty power in their midst to +the danger of themselves and of their posterity. In most cases when +they were dismissed they were asked the question, whether they had +opened a sanctuary for women also: for that in that way only could +they obtain suitable matches. + +The Roman youths were bitterly indignant at this, and the matter began +unmistakably to point to open violence. Romulus in order to provide a +fitting opportunity and place for this, dissembling his resentment, +with this purpose in view, instituted games to be solemnized every +year in honour of Neptunus Equester, which he called Consualia. He +then ordered the show to be proclaimed among the neighbouring peoples; +and the Romans prepared to solemnize it with all the pomp with which +they were then acquainted or were able to exhibit, in order to make +the spectacle famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers +assembled, being also desirous of seeing the new city, especially all +the nearest peoples, the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates: the +entire Sabine population attended with their wives and children. They +were hospitably invited to the different houses: and, when they saw +the position of the city, its fortified walls, and how crowded with +houses it was, they were astonished that the power of Rome had +increased so rapidly. When the time of the show arrived, and their +eyes and minds alike were intent upon it, then, according to +preconcerted arrangement, a disturbance was made, and, at a given +signal, the Roman youths rushed in different directions to carry off +the unmarried women. A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, by +those into whose hands they severally fell: some of the common people, +to whom the task had been assigned, conveyed to their homes certain +women of surpassing beauty, who were destined for the leading +senators. They say that one, far distinguished beyond the rest in form +and beauty, was carried off by the party of a certain Talassius, and +that, when several people wanted to know to whom they were carrying +her, a cry was raised from time to time, to prevent her being +molested, that she was being carried to Talassius: and that from this +the word was used in connection with marriages. The festival being +disturbed by the alarm thus caused, the sorrowing parents of the +maidens retired, complaining of the violated compact of hospitality, +and invoking the god, to whose solemn festival and games they had +come, having been deceived by the pretence of religion and good faith. +Nor did the maidens entertain better hopes for themselves, or feel +less indignation. Romulus, however, went about in person and pointed +out that what had happened was due to the pride of their fathers, +in that they had refused the privilege of intermarriage to their +neighbours; but that, notwithstanding, they would be lawfully wedded, +and enjoy a share of all their possessions and civil rights, and--a +thing dearer than all else to the human race--the society of their +common children: only let them calm their angry feelings, and bestow +their affections on those on whom fortune had bestowed their bodies. +Esteem (said he) often arose subsequent to wrong: and they would find +them better husbands for the reason that each of them would endeavour, +to the utmost of his power, after having discharged, as far as his +part was concerned, the duty of a husband, to quiet the longing for +country and parents. To this the blandishments of the husbands were +added, who excused what had been done on the plea of passion and love, +a form of entreaty that works most successfully upon the feelings of +women.[9] + +By this time the minds of the maidens were considerably soothed, but +their parents, especially by putting on the garb of mourning, and by +their tears and complaints, stirred up the neighbouring states. Nor +did they confine their feelings of indignation to their own home +only, but they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the +Sabines, and embassies crowded thither, because the name of Tatius +was held in the greatest esteem in those quarters. The Caeninenses, +Crustumini, and Antemnates were the people who were chiefly affected +by the outrage. As Tatius and the Sabines appeared to them to be +acting in too dilatory a manner, these three peoples by mutual +agreement among themselves made preparations for war unaided. However, +not even the Crustumini and Antemnates bestirred themselves with +sufficient activity to satisfy the hot-headedness and anger of the +Caeninenses: accordingly the people of Caenina, unaided, themselves +attacked the Roman territory. But Romulus with his army met them +while they were ravaging the country in straggling parties, and in +a trifling engagement convinced them that anger unaccompanied by +strength is fruitless. He routed their army and put it to flight, +followed in pursuit of it when routed, cut down their king in battle +and stripped him of his armour, and, having slain the enemy's leader, +took the city at the first assault. Then, having led back his +victorious army, being a man both distinguished for his achievements, +and one equally skilful at putting them in the most favourable light, +he ascended the Capitol, carrying suspended on a portable frame, +cleverly contrived for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's +general, whom he had slain: there, having laid them down at the foot +of an oak held sacred by the shepherds, at the same time that he +presented the offering, he marked out the boundaries for a temple of +Jupiter, and bestowed a surname on the god. "Jupiter Feretrius," said +he, "I, King Romulus, victorious over my foes, offer to thee these +royal arms, and dedicate to thee a temple within those quarters, which +I have just now marked out in my mind, to be a resting-place for the +spolia opima, which posterity, following my example, shall bring +hither on slaying the kings or generals of the enemy." This is the +origin of that temple, the first that was ever consecrated at Rome. It +was afterward the will of the gods that neither the utterances of +the founder of the temple, in which he solemnly declared that his +posterity would bring such spoils thither, should be spoken in vain, +and that the honour of the offering should not be rendered common +owing to the number of those who enjoyed it. In the course of so many +years and so many wars the spolia opima were only twice gained: so +rare has been the successful attainment of this honour.[10] + +While the Romans were thus engaged in those parts, the army of the +Antemnates made a hostile attack upon the Roman territories, seizing +the opportunity when they were left unguarded. Against these in like +manner a Roman legion was led out in haste and surprised them while +straggling in the country. Thus the enemy were routed at the first +shout and charge: their town was taken: Romulus, amid his rejoicings +at this double victory, was entreated by his wife Hersilia, in +consequence of the importunities of the captured women, to pardon +their fathers and admit them to the privileges of citizenship; that +the commonwealth could thus be knit together by reconciliation. +The request was readily granted. After that he set out against the +Crustumini, who were beginning hostilities: in their case, as their +courage had been damped by the disasters of others, the struggle was +less keen. Colonies were sent to both places: more, however, were +found to give in their names for Crustuminum, because of the fertility +of the soil. Great numbers also migrated from thence to Rome, chiefly +of the parents and relatives of the women who had been carried off. + +The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines, and this was by far +the most formidable: for nothing was done under the influence of anger +or covetousness, nor did they give indications of hostilities before +they had actually begun them. Cunning also was combined with prudence. +Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the Roman citadel: his maiden +daughter, who at the time had gone by chance outside the walls to +fetch water for sacrifice, was bribed by Tatius, to admit some armed +soldiers into the citadel. After they were admitted, they crushed her +to death by heaping their arms upon her: either that the citadel might +rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for the sake of setting +forth a warning, that faith should never on any occasion be kept with +a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the +Sabines usually wore golden bracelets of great weight on their left +arm and rings of great beauty set with precious stones, she bargained +with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore +shields were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say +that, in accordance with the agreement that they should deliver up +what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded their shields, +and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was +slain by the reward she had chosen for herself. + +Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day, +when the Roman army, drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the +valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, they did not descend +from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by resentment +and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced up hill to meet +them. The chiefs on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side +of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of the Romans Hostius +Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on unfavourable +ground, supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and +boldness. When Hostius fell, the Roman line immediately gave way, +and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the Palatium. +Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried, +uplifting his arms to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy +omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first foundations for the +city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the +Sabines: thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the +valley between. But do thou, O father of gods and men, keep back the +enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the Romans, and check +their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee +as Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has +been preserved by thy ready aid." Having offered up these prayers, +as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this +position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and +renew the fight." The Romans halted as if ordered by a voice from +heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius Curtius, on the +side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of +his troops and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole +space of ground where the Forum now is. He had almost reached the +gate of the Palatium, crying out: "We have conquered our perfidious +friends, our cowardly foes: now they know that fighting with men is a +very different thing from ravishing maidens." Upon him, as he uttered +these boasts, Romulus made an attack with a band of his bravest +youths. Mettius then happened to be fighting on horseback: on that +account his repulse was easier. When he was driven back, the Romans +followed in pursuit: and the remainder of the Roman army, fired by the +bravery of the king, routed the Sabines. Mettius, his horse taking +fright at the noise of his pursuers, rode headlong into a morass: this +circumstance drew off the attention of the Sabines also at the danger +of so high a personage. He indeed, his own party beckoning and calling +to him, gaining heart from the encouraging shouts of many of his +friends, made good his escape. The Romans and Sabines renewed the +battle in the valley between the two hills: but the advantage rested +with the Romans. + +At this crisis the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war had +arisen, with dishevelled hair and torn garments, the timidity natural +to women being overcome by the sense of their calamities, were +emboldened to fling themselves into the midst of the flying weapons, +and, rushing across, to part the incensed combatants and assuage their +wrath: imploring their fathers on the one hand and their husbands +on the other, as fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, not to besprinkle +themselves with impious blood, nor to fix the stain of murder on their +offspring, the one side on their grandchildren, the other on their +children. "If," said they, "you are dissatisfied with the relationship +between you, and with our marriage, turn your resentment against us; +it is we who are the cause of war, of wounds and bloodshed to our +husbands and parents: it will be better for us to perish than to +live widowed or orphans without one or other of you." This incident +affected both the people and the leaders; silence and sudden quiet +followed; the leaders thereupon came forward to conclude a treaty; +and not only concluded a peace, but formed one state out of two. They +united the kingly power, but transferred the entire sovereignty to +Rome. Rome having thus been made a double state, that some benefit at +least might be conferred on the Sabines, they were called Quirites +from Cures. To serve as a memorial of that battle, they called the +place--where Curtius, after having emerged from the deep morass, set +his horse in shallow water--the Lacus Curtius.[11] + +This welcome peace, following suddenly on so melancholy a war, +endeared the Sabine women still more to their husbands and parents, +and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when dividing the +people into thirty curiae, he called the curiae after their names. +While the number of the women were undoubtedly considerably greater +than this, it is not recorded whether they were chosen for their age, +their own rank or that of their husbands, or by lot, to give names +to the curiae. At the same time also three centuries of knights were +enrolled: the Ramnenses were so called from Romulus, the Titienses +from Titus Tatius: in regard to the Luceres, the meaning of the name +and its origin is uncertain.[12] From that time forward the two kings +enjoyed the regal power not only in common, but also in perfect +harmony. + +Several years afterward, some relatives of King Tatius ill-treated +the Ambassadors of the Laurentines, and on the Laurentines beginning +proceedings according to the rights of nations, the influence and +entreaties of his friends had more weight with Tatius. In this manner +he drew upon himself the punishment that should have fallen upon them: +for, having gone to Lavinium on the occasion of a regularly recurring +sacrifice, he was slain in a disturbance which took place there. They +say that Romulus resented this less than the event demanded, either +because partnership in sovereign power is never cordially kept up, or +because he thought that he had been deservedly slain. Accordingly, +while he abstained from going to war, the treaty between the cities +of Rome and Lavinium was renewed, that at any rate the wrongs of the +ambassadors and the murder of the king might be expiated. + +With these people, indeed, there was peace contrary to expectations: +but another war broke out much nearer home and almost at the city's +gates. The Fidenates,[13] being of opinion that a power in too close +proximity to themselves was gaining strength, hastened to make war +before the power of the Romans should attain the greatness it was +evidently destined to reach. An armed band of youths was sent into +Roman territory and all the territories between the city and the +Fidenae was ravaged. Then, turning to the left, because on the right +the Tiber was a barrier against them, they continued to ravage the +country, to the great consternation of the peasantry: the sudden +alarm, reaching the city from the country, was the first announcement +of the invasion. Romulus aroused by this--for a war so near home could +not brook delay--led out his army, and pitched his camp a mile from +Fidenae. Having left a small garrison there, he marched out with all +his forces and gave orders that a part of them should lie in ambush in +a spot hidden amid bushes planted thickly around; he himself advancing +with the greater part of the infantry and all the cavalry, by riding +up almost to the very gates, drew out the enemy--which was just what +he wanted--by a mode of battle of a disorderly and threatening nature. +The same tactics on the part of the cavalry caused the flight, which +it was necessary to pretend, to appear less surprising: and when, as +the cavalry appeared undecided whether to make up its mind to fight or +flee, the infantry also retreated--the enemy, pouring forth suddenly +through the crowded gates, were drawn toward the place of ambuscade, +in their eagerness to press on and pursue, after they had broken the +Roman line. Thereupon the Romans, suddenly arising, attacked the +enemy's line in flanks; the advance from the camp of the standards of +those, who had been left behind on guard, increased the panic: thus +the Fidenates, smitten with terror from many quarters, took to flight +almost before Romulus and the cavalry who accompanied him could wheel +round: and those who a little before had been in pursuit of men who +pretended flight, made for the town again in much greater disorder, +seeing that their flight was real. They did not, however, escape the +foe: the Romans, pressing closely on their rear, rushed in as if it +were in one body, before the doors of the gates could be shut against +them. + +The minds of the inhabitants of Veii,[14] being exasperated by the +infectious influence of the Fidenatian war, both from the tie of +kinship--for the Fidenates also were Etruscans--and because the very +proximity of the scene of action, in the event of the Roman arms being +directed against all their neighbours, urged them on, they sallied +forth into the Roman territories, rather with the object of plundering +than after the manner of a regular war. Accordingly, without pitching +a camp, or waiting for the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, taking +with them the booty they had carried off from the lands; the Roman +army, on the other hand, when they did not find the enemy in the +country, being ready and eager for a decisive action, crossed the +Tiber. And when the Veientes heard that they were pitching a camp, and +intended to advance to the city, they came out to meet them that they +might rather decide the matter in the open field, than be shut up and +have to fight from their houses and walls. In this engagement the +Roman king gained the victory, his power being unassisted by any +stratagem, by the unaided strength of his veteran army: and having +pursued the routed enemies up to their walls, he refrained from +attacking the city, which was strongly fortified and well defended +by its natural advantages: on his return he laid waste their lands, +rather from a desire of revenge than of booty. The Veientes, humbled +by that loss no less than by the unsuccessful issue of the battle, +sent ambassadors to Rome to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred +years was granted them, after they had been mulcted in a part of their +territory. These were essentially the chief events of the reign of +Romulus, in peace and in war, none of which seemed inconsistent with +the belief of his divine origin, or of his deification after death, +neither the spirit he showed in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, +nor his wisdom in building a city, and afterward strengthening it by +the arts of war and peace. For assuredly it was by the power that +Romulus gave it that it became so powerful, that for forty years after +it enjoyed unbroken peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than +to the fathers: above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers: +of these he kept three hundred, whom he called Celeres, armed to serve +as a body-guard not only in time of war but also of peace. + +Having accomplished these works deserving of immortality, while he was +holding an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain +near the Goat's pool, a storm suddenly came on, accompanied by loud +thunder and lightning, and enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that +it entirely hid him from the sight of the assembly. After this Romulus +was never seen again upon earth. The feeling of consternation having +at length calmed down, and the weather having become clear and fine +again after so stormy a day, the Roman youth seeing the royal seat +empty--though they readily believed the words of the fathers who +had stood nearest him, that he had been carried up to heaven by the +storm--yet, struck as it were with the fear of being fatherless, for a +considerable time preserved a sorrowful silence. Then, after a few had +set the example, the whole multitude saluted Romulus as a god, the son +of a god, the king and parent of the Roman city; they implored his +favour with prayers, that with gracious kindness he would always +preserve his offspring. I believe that even then there were some, who +in secret were convinced that the king had been torn in pieces by the +hands of the fathers--for this rumour also spread, but it was very +doubtfully received; admiration for the man, however, and the awe felt +at the moment, gave greater notoriety to the other report. Also by the +clever idea of one individual, additional confirmation is said to have +been attached to the occurrence. For Proculus Julius, while the state +was still troubled at the loss of the king, and incensed against the +senators, a weighty authority, as we are told, in any matter however +important, came forward into the assembly. "Quirites," said he, +"Romulus, the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, +appeared to me this day at daybreak. While I stood filled with dread, +and religious awe, beseeching him to allow me to look upon him face to +face, 'Go,' said he, 'tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that +my Rome should become the capital of the world. Therefore let them +cultivate the art of war, and let them know and so hand it down to +posterity, that no human power can withstand the Roman arms.' Having +said this, he vanished up to heaven." It is surprising what credit was +given to that person when he made the announcement, and how much the +regret of the common people and army for the loss of Romulus was +assuaged when the certainty of his immortality was confirmed.[15] + +Meanwhile[16] contention for the throne and ambition engaged the minds +of the fathers; the struggle was not as yet carried on by individuals, +by violence or contending factions, because, among a new people, no +one person was pre-eminently distinguished; the contest was carried on +between the different orders. The descendants of the Sabines wished a +king to be elected from their own body, lest, because there had been +no king from their own party since the death of Tatius, they might +lose their claim to the crown although both were on an equal footing. +The old Romans spurned the idea of a foreign prince. Amid this +diversity of views, however, all were anxious to be under the +government of a king, as they had not yet experienced the delights of +liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest, as the minds of many +surrounding states were incensed against them, some foreign power +should attack the state, now without a government, and the army, now +without a leader. Therefore, although they were agreed that there +should be some head, yet none could bring himself to give way to +another. Accordingly, the hundred senators divided the government +among themselves, ten decuries being formed, and the individual +members who were to have the chief direction of affairs being chosen +into each decury.[17] Ten governed; one only was attended by the +lictors and with the insignia of authority: their power was limited to +the space of five days, and conferred upon all in rotation, and the +interval between the government of a king lasted a year. From this +fact it was called an interregnum, a term which is employed even now. +Then the people began to murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, +and that they had now a hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they +seemed determined to submit to no authority but that of a king, and +that one appointed by themselves. When the fathers perceived that such +schemes were on foot, thinking it advisable to offer them, without +being asked, what they were sure to lose, they conciliated the +good-will of the people by yielding to them the supreme power, yet in +such a manner as to surrender no greater privilege than they reserved +to themselves. For they decreed, that when the people had chosen a +king, the election should be valid, if the senate gave the sanction of +their authority. And even to this day the same forms are observed in +proposing laws and magistrates, though their power has been taken +away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators ratify their +choice, even while the result of the elections is still uncertain. +Then the interrex, having summoned an assembly of the people, +addressed them as follows: "Do you, Quirites, choose yourselves a +king, and may this choice prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious; such +is the will of the fathers. Then, if you shall choose a prince worthy +to be reckoned next after Romulus, the fathers will ratify your +choice." This concession was so pleasing to the people, that, not to +appear outdone in generosity, they only voted and ordained that the +senate should determine who should be king at Rome. + +The justice and piety of Numa Pompilius was at that time celebrated. +He dwelt at Cures, a city of the Sabines, and was as eminently learned +in all law, human and divine, as any man could be in that age. They +falsely represent that Pythagoras of Samos was his instructor in +learning, because there appears no other. Now it is certain that this +philosopher, in the reign of Servius Tullius, more than a hundred +years after this, held assemblies of young men, who eagerly +embraced his doctrines, on the most distant shore of Italy, in the +neighbourhood of Metapontum, Heraclea, and Croton. But from these +places, even had he flourished in the same age, what fame of his could +have reached the Sabines? or by what intercourse of language could it +have aroused any one to a desire of learning? Or by what safeguard +could a single man have passed through the midst of so many nations +differing in language and customs? I am therefore rather inclined to +believe that his mind, owing to his natural bent, was attempered by +virtuous qualities, and that he was not so much versed in foreign +systems of philosophy as in the stern and gloomy training of the +ancient Sabines, a race than which none was in former times more +strict. When they heard the name of Numa, although the Roman fathers +perceived that the balance of power would incline to the Sabines if +a king were chosen from them, yet none of them ventured to prefer +himself, or any other member of his party, or, in fine, any of the +citizens or fathers, to a man so well known, but unanimously resolved +that the kingdom should be offered to Numa Pompilius. Being sent for, +just as Romulus obtained the throne by the augury in accordance with +which he founded the city, so Numa in like manner commanded the gods +to be consulted concerning himself. Upon this, being escorted into the +citadel by an augur, to whose profession that office was later made +a public and perpetual one by way of honour, he sat down on a stone +facing the south: the augur took his seaton his left hand with his +head covered, holding in his right a crooked wand free from knots, +called lituus; then, after having taken a view over the city and +country, and offered a prayer to the gods, he defined the bounds of +the regions of the sky from east to west: the parts toward the south +he called the right, those toward the north, the left; and in front of +him he marked out in his mind the sign as far as ever his eyes could +see. Then having shifted the lituus into his left hand, and placed +his right on the head of Numa, he prayed after this manner: "O father +Jupiter, if it be thy will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I +hold, be king of Rome, mayest thou manifest infallible signs to us +within those bounds which I have marked." Then he stated in set terms +the auspices which he wished to be sent: on their being sent, Numa was +declared king and came down from the seat of augury. + +Having thus obtained the kingdom, he set about establishing anew, on +the principles of law and morality, the newly founded city that had +been already established by force of arms. When he saw that the +inhabitants, inasmuch as men's minds are brutalized by military life, +could not become reconciled to such principles during the continuance +of wars, considering that the savage nature of the people must +be toned down by the disuse of arms, he erected at the foot of +Argiletum[18] a temple of Janus, as a sign of peace and war, that when +open, it might show that the state was engaged in war, and when shut, +that all the surrounding nations were at peace. Twice only since the +reign of Numa has this temple been shut: once when Titus Manlius was +consul, after the conclusion of the first Punic war; and a second +time, which the gods granted our generation to behold, by the Emperor +Caesar Augustus, after the battle of Actium, when peace was established +by land and sea. This being shut, after he had secured the friendship +of all the neighbouring states around by alliance and treaties, all +anxiety regarding dangers from abroad being now removed, in order to +prevent their minds, which the fear of enemies and military discipline +had kept in check, running riot from too much leisure, he considered, +that, first of all, awe of the gods should be instilled into them, +a principle of the greatest efficacy in dealing with the multitude, +ignorant and uncivilized as it was in those times. But as this fear +could not sink deeply into their minds without some fiction of a +miracle, he pretended that he held nightly interviews with the goddess +Egeria; that by her direction he instituted sacred rites such as would +be most acceptable to the gods, and appointed their own priests for +each of the deities. And, first of all, he divided the year into +twelve months, according to the courses of the moon;[19] and because +the moon does not fill up the number of thirty days in each month, and +some days are wanting to the complete year, which is brought round by +the solstitial revolution, he so regulated this year, by inserting +intercalary months, that every twentieth year, the lengths of all the +intermediate years being filled up, the days corresponded with the +same starting-point of the sun whence they had set out. He likewise +divided days into sacred and profane, because on certain occasions it +was likely to be expedient that no business should be transacted with +the people. + +Next he turned his attention to the appointment of priests, though he +discharged many sacred functions himself, especially those which now +belong to the flamen of Jupiter. But, as he imagined that in a warlike +nation there would be more kings resembling Romulus than Numa, +and that they would go to war in person, in order that the sacred +functions of the royal office might not be neglected, he appointed a +perpetual priest as flamen to Jupiter, and distinguished him by a fine +robe, and a royal curule chair. To him he added two other flamens, one +for Mars, another for Quirinus. He also chose virgins for Vesta, a +priesthood derived from Alba, and not foreign to the family of the +founder. That they might be constant attendants in the temple, he +appointed them pay out of the public treasury; and by enjoining +virginity, and various religious observances, he made them sacred and +venerable. He also chose twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus, and gave them +the distinction of an embroidered tunic, and over the tunic a brazen +covering for the breast. He commanded them to carry the shields called +Ancilia,[20] which fell fromheaven, and to go through the city singing +songs, with leaping and solemn dancing. Then he chose from the fathers +Numa Marcius, son of Marcius, as pontiff, and consigned to him a +complete system of religious rites written out and recorded, showing +with what victims, upon what days, and at what temples the sacred +rites were to be performed, and from what funds the money was to be +taken to defray the expenses. He also placed all other religious +institutions, public and private, under the control of the decrees of +the pontiff, to the end that there might be some authority to whom +the people should come to ask advice, to prevent any confusion in the +divine worship being caused by their neglecting the ceremonies of +their own country, and adopting foreign ones. He further ordained that +the same pontiff should instruct the people not only in the ceremonies +connected with the heavenly deities, but also in the due performance +of funeral solemnities, and how to appease the shades of the dead; and +what prodigies sent by lightning or any other phenomenon were to be +attended to and expiated. To draw forth such knowledge from the minds +of the gods, he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter Elicius, +and consulted the god by means of auguries as to what prodigies ought +to be attended to. + +The attention of the whole people having been thus diverted from +violence and arms to the deliberation and adjustment of these matters, +both their minds were engaged in some occupation, and the watchfulness +of the gods now constantly impressed upon them, as the deity of heaven +seemed to interest itself in human concerns, had filled the breasts of +all with such piety, that faith and religious obligations governed the +state, the dread of laws and punishments being regarded as secondary. +And while the people of their own accord were forming themselves on +the model of the king, as the most excellent example, the neighbouring +states also, who had formerly thought that it was a camp, not a city, +that had been established in their midst to disturb the general peace, +were brought to feel such respect for them that they considered it +impious to molest a state, wholly occupied in the worship of the gods. +There was a grove, the middle of which was irrigated by a spring of +running water, flowing from a dark grotto. As Numa often repaired +thither unattended, under pretence of meeting the goddess, he +dedicated the grove to the Camenae, because, as he asserted, their +meetings with his wife Egeria were held there. He also instituted a +yearly festival to Faith alone, and commanded her priests to be driven +to the chapel erected for the purpose in an arched chariot drawn by +two horses, and to perform the divine service with their hands wrapped +up to the fingers, intimating that Faith ought to be protected, and +that even her seat in men's right hands was sacred. He instituted many +other sacred rites, and dedicated places for performing them, which +the priests call Argei. But the greatest of all his works was the +maintenance of peace during the whole period of his reign, no less +than of his royal power. Thus two kings in succession, by different +methods, the one by war, the other by peace, aggrandized the state. +Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three: the state was +both strong and attempered by the arts both of war and peace. + +Upon the death of Numa, the administration returned again to an +interregnum. After that the people appointed as King Tullus Hostilius, +the grandson of that Hostilius who had made the noble stand against +the Sabines at the foot of the citadel: the fathers confirmed the +choice. He was not only unlike the preceding king, but even of a more +warlike disposition than Romulus. Both his youth and strength, and, +further, the renown of his grandfather, stimulated his ambition. +Thinking therefore that the state was deteriorating through ease, +he everywhere sought for an opportunity of stirring up war. It so +happened that some Roman and Alban peasants mutually plundered each +other's lands. Gaius Cluilius at that time was in power at Alba. From +both sides ambassadors were sent almost at the same time, to demand +satisfaction. Tullus had ordered his representatives to attend to +their instructions before anything else. He knew well that the Alban +would refuse, and so war might be proclaimed with a clear conscience. +Their commission was executed in a more dilatory manner by the Albans: +being courteously and kindly entertained by Tullus, they gladly took +advantage of the king's hospitality. Meanwhile the Romans had both +been first in demanding satisfaction, and upon the refusal of the +Alban, had proclaimed war upon the expiration of thirty days: of this +they gave Tullus notice. Thereupon he granted the Alban ambassadors an +opportunity of stating with what demands they came. They, ignorant of +everything, at first wasted some time in making excuses: That it was +with reluctance they would say anything which might be displeasing +to Tullus, but they were compelled by orders: that they had come to +demand satisfaction: if this was not granted, they were commanded to +declare war. To this Tullus made answer, "Go tell your king, that the +king of the Romans takes the gods to witness, that, whichever of the +two nations shall have first dismissed with contempt the ambassadors +demanding satisfaction, from it they [the gods] may exact atonement +for the disasters of this war." This message the Albans carried home. + +Preparations were made on both sides with the utmost vigour for a war +very like a civil one, in a manner between parents and children, both +being of Trojan stock: for from Troy came Lavinium, from Lavinium, +Alba, and the Romans were descended from the stock of the Alban kings. +However, the result of the war rendered the quarrel less distressing, +for the struggle never came to regular action, and when the buildings +only of one of the cities had been demolished, the two states were +incorporated into one. The Albans first invaded the Roman territories +with a large army. They pitched their camp not more than five miles +from the city, and surrounded it with a trench, which, for several +ages, was called the Cluilian trench, from the name of the general, +till, by lapse of time, the name, as well as the event itself, was +forgotten. In that camp Cluilius, the Alban king, died: the Albans +created Mettius Fufetius dictator. In the meantime Tullus, exultant, +especially at the death of the king, and giving out that the supreme +power of the gods, having begun at the head, would take vengeance on +the whole Alban nation for this impious war, having passed the enemy's +camp in the night-time, marched with a hostile army into the Alban +territory. This circumstance drew out Mettius from his camp: he led +his forces as close as possible to the enemy; thence he despatched +a herald and commanded him to tell Tullus that a conference was +expedient before they came to an engagement; and that, if he would +give him a meeting, he was certain he would bring forward matters +which concerned the interests of Rome no less than of Alba. Tullus did +not reject the offer: nevertheless, in case the proposals made should +prove fruitless, he led out his men in order of battle: the Albans +on their side marched out also. After both armies stood drawn up +in battle array, the chiefs, with a few of the principal officers, +advanced into the midst. Then the Alban began as follows: "That +injuries and the non-restitution of property claimed according to +treaty is the cause of this war, methinks I have both heard our king +Cluilius assert, and I doubt not, Tullus, but that you allege the +same. But if the truth must be told, rather than what is plausible, it +is thirst for rule that provokes two kindred and neighbouring states +to arms. Whether rightly or wrongly, I do not take upon myself to +determine: let the consideration of that rest with him who has begun +the war. As for myself, the Albans have only made me their leader for +carrying on that war. Of this, Tullus, I would have you advised: how +powerful the Etruscan state is around us, and around you particularly, +you know better than we, inasmuch as you are nearer to them. They are +very powerful by land, far more so by sea. Recollect that, directly +you shall give the signal for battle, these two armies will be the +object of their attention, that they may fall on us when wearied and +exhausted, victor and vanquished together. Therefore, for the love of +heaven, since, not content with a sure independence, we are running +the doubtful hazard of sovereignty and slavery, let us adopt some +method, whereby, without great loss, without much bloodshed of either +nation, it may be decided which is to rule the other." The proposal +was not displeasing to Tullus, though both from his natural bent, as +also from the hope of victory, he was rather inclined to violence. +After consideration, on both sides, a plan was adopted, for which +Fortune herself afforded the means of execution. + +It happened that there were in the two armies at that time three +brothers born at one birth, neither in age nor strength ill-matched. +That they were called Horatii and Curiatii is certain enough, and +there is hardly any fact of antiquity more generally known; yet in a +manner so well ascertained, a doubt remains concerning their names, as +to which nation the Horatii, to which the Curiatii belonged. Authors +incline to both sides, yet I find a majority who call the Horatii +Romans: my own inclination leads me to follow them. The kings arranged +with the three brothers that they should fight with swords each in +defence of their respective country; assuring them that dominion +would rest with those on whose side victory should declare itself. No +objection was raised; the time and place were agreed upon. Before the +engagement began, a compact was entered into between the Romans and +Albans on these conditions, that that state, whose champions should +come off victorious in the combat, should rule the other state without +further dispute. Different treaties are made on different conditions, +but in general they are all concluded with the same formalities. We +have heard that the treaty in question was then concluded as follows, +nor is there extant a more ancient record of any treaty. The herald +asked King Tullus, "Dost thou command me, O king, to conclude a +treaty with the pater patratus of the Alban people?" On the king so +commanding him he said, "I demand vervain of thee, O king." The king +replied, "Take some that is pure." The herald brought a pure blade of +grass from the citadel; then again he asked the king, "Dost thou, O +king, appoint me the royal delegate of the Roman people, the Quirites, +and my appurtenances and attendants?" The king replied, "So far as +it may be done without detriment to me and to the Roman people, the +Quirites, I do so." The herald was Marcus Valerius, who appointed +Spurius Fusius pater patratus,[21] touching his head and hair with +the vervain.[22] The pater patratus was appointed ad iusiurandum +patrandum, that is, to ratify the treaty; and he went through it in a +lengthy preamble, which, being expressed in a long set form, it is not +worth while to repeat. After having set forth the conditions, he said: +"Hear, O Jupiter; hear, O pater patratus of the Alban people, and ye, +O Alban people, give ear. As those conditions, from first to last, +have been publicly recited from those tablets or wax without wicked +or fraudulent intent, and as they have been most correctly understood +here this day, the Roman people will not be the first to fail to +observe those conditions. If they shall be the first to do so by +public consent, by fraudulent intent, on that day do thou, O Jupiter, +so strike the Roman people, as I shall here this day strike this +swine; and do thou strike them so much the more, as thou art more +mighty and more powerful." When he said this, he struck the swine with +a flint stone. The Albans likewise went through their own set form and +oath by the mouth of their own dictator and priests. + +The treaty being concluded, the twin-brothers, as had been agreed, +took arms. While their respective friends exhorted each party, +reminding them that their country's gods, their country and parents, +all their fellow-citizens both at home and in the army, had their eyes +then fixed on their arms, on their hands, being both naturally brave, +and animated by the shouts and exhortations of their friends, they +advanced into the midst between the two lines. The two armies on both +sides had taken their seats in front of their respective camps, free +rather from danger for the moment than from anxiety: for sovereign +power was at stake, dependent on the valour and fortune of so few. +Accordingly, therefore, on the tip-toe of expectation, their attention +was eagerly fixed on a spectacle far from pleasing. The signal was +given: and the three youths on each side, as if in battle array, +rushed to the charge with arms presented, bearing in their breasts the +spirit of mighty armies. Neither the one nor the other heeded their +personal danger, but the public dominion or slavery was present to +their mind, and the thought that the fortune of their country would be +such hereafter as they themselves should have made it. Directly their +arms clashed at the first encounter, and their glittering swords +flashed, a mighty horror thrilled the spectators; and, as hope +inclined to neither side, voice and breath alike were numbed. Then +having engaged hand to hand, when now not only the movements of their +bodies, and the indecisive brandishings of their arms and weapons, but +wounds also and blood were seen, two of the Romans fell lifeless, one +upon the other, the three Albans being wounded. And when the Alban +army had raised a shout of joy at their fall, hope had entirely by +this time, not however anxiety, deserted the Roman legions, breathless +with apprehension at the dangerous position of this one man, whom the +three Curiatii had surrounded. He happened to be unhurt, so that, +though alone he was by no means a match for them all together, yet +he was full of confidence against each singly. In order therefore to +separate their attack, he took to flight, presuming that they would +each pursue him with such swiftness as the wounded state of his body +would permit. He had now fled a considerable distance from the place +where the fight had taken place, when, looking back, he perceived that +they were pursuing him at a great distance from each other, and that +one of them was not far from him. On him he turned round with great +fury, and while the Alban army shouted out to the Curiatii to succour +their brother, Horatius by this time victorious, having slain his +antagonist, was now proceeding to a second attack. Then the Romans +encouraged their champion with a shout such as is wont to be raised +when men cheer in consequence of unexpected success; and he hastened +to finish the combat. Wherefore before the other, who was not far off, +could come up to him, he slew the second Curiatius also. And now, the +combat being brought to equal terms, one on each side remained, but +unequally matched in hope and strength. The one was inspired with +courage for a third contest by the fact that his body was uninjured by +a weapon, and by his double victory: the other dragging along his body +exhausted from his wound, exhausted from running, and dispirited by +the slaughter of his brothers before his eyes, thus met his victorious +antagonist. And indeed there was no fight. The Roman, exulting, cried: +"Two I have offered to the shades of my brothers: the third I will +offer to the cause of this war, that the Roman may rule over the +Alban." He thrust his sword down from above into his throat, while he +with difficulty supported the weight of his arms, and stripped him +as he lay prostrate. The Romans welcomed Horatius with joy and +congratulations; with so much the greater exultation, as the matter +had closely bordered on alarm. They then turned their attention to the +burial of their friends, with feelings by no means the same: for the +one side was elated by the acquisition of empire, the other brought +under the rule of others: their sepulchres may still be seen in the +spot where each fell; the two Roman in one place nearer Alba, the +three Alban in the direction of Rome, but situated at some distance +from each other, as in fact they had fought. + +Before they departed from thence, when Mettius, in accordance with the +treaty which had been concluded, asked Tullus what his orders were, +he ordered him to keep his young men under arms, for he intended to +employ them, if a war should break out with the Veientes. After this +both armies were led away to their homes. Horatius marched in front, +carrying before him the spoils of the three brothers: his maiden +sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him before +the gate Capena;[23] and having recognised on her brother's shoulders +the military robe of her betrothed, which she herself had worked, she +tore her hair, and with bitter wailings called by name on her deceased +lover. The sister's lamentations in the midst of his own victory, and +of such great public rejoicings, raised the ire of the hot-tempered +youth. So, having drawn his sword, he ran the maiden through the body, +at the same time reproaching her with these words: "Go hence with thy +ill-timed love to thy spouse, forgetful of thy brothers that are dead, +and of the one who survives--forgetful of thy country. So fare every +Roman woman who shall mourn an enemy." This deed seemed cruel to the +fathers and to the people; but his recent services outweighed its +enormity. Nevertheless he was dragged before the king for judgment. +The king, however, that he might not himself be responsible for a +decision so melancholy, and so disagreeable in the view of the people, +or for the punishment consequent on such decision, having summoned +an assembly of the people, declared, "I appoint, according to law, +duumvirs to pass sentence on Horatius for treason." The law was of +dreadful formula. "Let the duumvirs pass sentence for treason. If he +appeal from the duumvirs, let him contend by appeal; if they shall +gain the cause, let the lictor cover his head, hang him by a rope +on the accursed tree, scourge him either within the pomerium,[24]or +without the pomerium." The duumvirs appointed in accordance with this +decision, who did not consider that, according to that law, they could +acquit the man even if innocent, having condemned him, then one of +them said: "Publius Horatius, I judge thee guilty of treason. Lictor, +bind his hands." The lictor had approached him, and was commencing to +fix the rope round his neck. Then Horatius, on the advice of Tullus, +a merciful interpreter of the law, said, "I appeal." Accordingly the +matter was contested before the people as to the appeal. At that trial +the spectators were much affected, especially on Publius Horatius +the father declaring that he considered his daughter to have been +deservedly slain; were it not so, that he would by virtue of his +authority as a father have inflicted punishment on his son. He then +entreated them that they would not render him childless, one whom but +a little while ago they had beheld blessed with a fine progeny. During +these words the old man, having embraced the youth, pointing to the +spoils of the Curiatii hung up in that place which is now called Pila +Horatia,[25] "Quirites," said he, "can you bear to see bound beneath +the gallows, amid scourgings and tortures, the man whom you just now +beheld marching decorated with spoils and exulting in victory--a sight +so shocking that even the eyes of the Albans could scarcely endure it? +Go then, lictor, bind those hands, which but a little while since, +armed, won sovereignty for the Roman people. Go, cover the head of the +liberator of this city: hang him on the accursed tree: scourge him, +either within the pomerium, so it be only amid those javelins and +spoils of the enemy, or without the pomerium, so it be only amid the +graves of the Curiatii. For whither can you lead this youth, where his +own noble deeds will not redeem him from such disgraceful punishment?" +The people could not withstand either the tears of the father, or the +spirit of the son, the same in every danger, and acquitted him more +from admiration of his bravery, than on account of the justice of his +cause. But that so clear a murder might be at least atoned for by some +expiation, the father was commanded to expiate the son's guilt at the +public charge. He, having offered certain expiatory sacrifices, which +were ever after continued in the Horatian family, and laid a beam +across the street, made the youth pass under it, as under the yoke, +with his head covered. This beam remains even to this day, being +constantly repaired at the public expense; it is called Sororium +Tigillum (Sister's Beam). A tomb of square stone was erected to +Horatia in the spot where she was stabbed and fell. + +However, the peace with Alba did not long continue. The +dissatisfaction of the populace at the fortune of the state having +been intrusted to three soldiers, perverted the wavering mind of the +dictator; and since straightforward measures had not turned out well, +he began to conciliate the affections of the populace by treacherous +means. Accordingly, as one who had formerly sought peace in time of +war, and was now seeking war in time of peace, because he perceived +that his own state possessed more courage than strength, he stirred +up other nations to make war openly and by proclamation: for his own +people he reserved the work of treachery under the show of allegiance. +The Fidenates, a Roman colony,[26] having taken the Veientes into +partnership in the plot, were instigated to declare war and take up +arms under a compact of desertion on the part of the Albans. When +Fidenae had openly revolted, Tullus, after summoning Mettius and his +army from Alba, marched against the enemy. When he crossed the Anio, +he pitched his camp at the conflux of the rivers.[27] Between that +place and Fidenae, the army of the Veientes had crossed the Tiber. +These, in the line of battle, also occupied the right wing near the +river; the Fidenates were posted on the left nearer the mountains. +Tullus stationed his own men opposite the Veientine foe; the Albans +he posted to face the legion of the Fidenates. The Alban had no more +courage than loyalty. Therefore neither daring to keep his ground, nor +to desert openly, he filed off slowly to the mountains. After this, +when he supposed he had advanced far enough, he led his entire army +uphill, and still wavering in mind, in order to waste time, opened +his ranks. His design was, to direct his forces to that side on which +fortune should give success. At first the Romans who stood nearest +were astonished, when they perceived their flanks were exposed by the +departure of their allies; then a horseman at full gallop announced +to the king that the Albans were moving off. Tullus, in this perilous +juncture, vowed twelve Salii and temples to Paleness and Panic. +Rebuking the horseman in a loud voice, so that the enemy might hear +him plainly, he ordered him to return to the ranks, that there was no +occasion for alarm; that it was by his order that the Alban army was +being led round to fall on the unprotected rear of the Fidenates. He +likewise commanded him to order the cavalry to raise their spears +aloft; the execution of this order shut out the view of the retreating +Alban army from a great part of the Roman infantry. Those who saw it, +believing that it was even so, as they had heard from the king, fought +with all the greater valour. The alarm was transferred to the enemy; +they had both heard what had been uttered so loudly, and a great part +of the Fidenates, as men who had mixed as colonists with the Romans, +understood Latin. Therefore, that they might not be cut off from the +town by a sudden descent of the Albans from the hills, they took to +flight. Tullus pressed forward, and having routed the wing of the +Fidenates, returned with greater fury against the Veientes, who were +disheartened by the panic of the others: they did not even sustain +his charge; but the river, opposed to them in the rear, prevented a +disordered flight. When their flight led thither, some, shamefully +throwing down their arms, rushed blindly into the river; others, while +lingering on the banks, undecided whether to fight or flee, were +overpowered. Never before was a more desperate battle fought by the +Romans. + +Then the Alban army, which had been a mere spectator of the fight, +was marched down into the plains. Mettius congratulated Tullus on his +victory over the enemy; Tullus on his part addressed Mettius with +courtesy. He ordered the Albans to unite their camp with that of the +Romans, which he prayed heaven might prove beneficial to both; and +prepared a purificatory sacrifice for the next day. As soon as it +was daylight, all things being in readiness, according to custom, he +commanded both armies to be summoned to an assembly. The heralds, +beginning at the farthest part of the camp, summoned the Albans first. +They, struck also with the novelty of the thing, in order to hear the +Roman king deliver a speech, crowded next to him. The Roman forces, +under arms, according to previous arrangement, surrounded them; the +centurions had been charged to execute their orders without delay. +Then Tullus began as follows: "Romans, if ever before, at any other +time, in any war, there was a reason that you should return thanks, +first to the immortal gods, next to your own valour, it was +yesterday's battle. For the struggle was not so much with enemies as +with the treachery and perfidy of allies, a struggle which is more +serious and more dangerous. For--that you may not be under a mistaken +opinion--know that it was without my orders that the Albans retired to +the mountains, nor was that my command, but a stratagem and the mere +pretence of a command: that you, being kept in ignorance that you were +deserted, your attention might not be drawn away from the fight, and +that the enemy might be inspired with terror and dismay, conceiving +themselves to be surrounded on the rear. Nor is that guilt, which I +now complain of, shared by all the Albans. They merely followed their +leader, as you too would have done, had I wished to turn my army away +to any other point from thence. It is Mettius there who is the leader +of this march: it is Mettius also who the contriver of this war is: it +is Mettius who is the violator of the treaty between Rome and Alba. +Let another hereafter venture to do the like, if I do not presently +make of him a signal example to mankind." The centurions in arms stood +around Mettius: the king proceeded with the rest of his speech as he +had commenced: "It is my intention, and may it prove fortunate, happy, +and auspicious to the Roman people, to myself, and to you, O Albans, +to transplant all the inhabitants of Alba to Rome, to grant your +commons the rights of citizenship, to admit your nobles into the body +of senators, to make one city, one state: as the Alban state after +being one people was formerly divided into two, so let it now again +become one." On hearing this the Alban youth, unarmed, surrounded by +armed men, although divided in their sentiments, yet under pressure of +the general apprehension maintained silence. Then Tullus proceeded: +"If, Mettius Fufetius, you were capable of learning fidelity, and how +to observe treaties, I would have suffered you to live and have given +you such a lesson. But as it is, since your disposition is incurable, +do you at any rate by your punishment teach mankind to consider those +obligations sacred, which have been violated by you? As therefore a +little while since you kept your mind divided between the interests of +Fidenae and of Rome, so shall you now surrender your body to be torn +asunder in different directions." Upon this, two chariots drawn by +four horses being brought up, he bound Mettius stretched at full +length to their carriages: then the horses were driven in different +directions, carrying off his mangled body on each carriage, where the +limbs had remained hanging to the cords. All turned away their eyes +from so shocking a spectacle. That was the first and last instance +among the Romans of a punishment which established a precedent that +showed but little regard for the laws of humanity. In other cases +we may boast that no other nation has approved of milder forms of +punishment.[28] + +Meanwhile the cavalry had already been sent on to Alba, to transplant +the people to Rome. The legions were next led thither to demolish the +city. When they entered the gates, there was not indeed such a tumult +or panic as usually prevails in captured cities, when, after the gates +have been burst open, or the walls levelled by the battering-ram, or +the citadel taken by assault, the shouts of the enemy and rush of +armed men through the city throws everything into confusion with fire +and sword: but gloomy silence and speechless sorrow so stupefied the +minds of all, that, through fear, paying no heed as to what they +should leave behind, what they should take with them, in their +perplexity, making frequent inquiries one of another, they now stood +on the thresholds, now wandering about, roamed through their houses, +which they were destined to see then for the last time. When now the +shouts of the horsemen commanding them to depart became urgent, and +the crash of the dwellings which were being demolished was heard in +the remotest parts of the city, and the dust, rising from distant +places, had filled every quarter as with a cloud spread over them; +then, hastily carrying out whatever each of them could, while they +went forth, leaving behind them their guardian deity and household +gods,[29] and the homes in which each had been born and brought up, an +unbroken line of emigrants soon filled the streets, and the sight of +others caused their tears to break out afresh in pity for one another: +piteous cries too were heard, of the women more especially, as they +passed by their revered temples now beset with armed men, and left +their gods as it were in captivity. After the Albans had evacuated the +town, the Roman soldiery levelled all the public and private buildings +indiscriminately to the ground, and a single hour consigned to +destruction and ruin the work of four hundred years, during which +Alba had stood. The temples of the gods, however--for so it had been +ordered by the king--were spared. + +In the meantime Rome increased by the destruction of Alba. The number +of citizens was doubled. The Coelian Mount was added to the city, and, +in order that it might be more thickly populated, Tullus selected it +as a site for his palace, and subsequently took up his abode there. +The leading men of the Albans he enrolled among the patricians, that +that division of the state also might increase, the Tullii, Servilii, +Quinctii, Geganii, Curiatii, Cloelii; and as a consecrated place +of meeting for the order thus augmented by himself he built a +senate-house, which was called Hostilia[30] even down to the time of +our fathers. Further, that all ranks might acquire some additional +strength from the new people, he chose ten troops of horsemen from +among the Albans: he likewise recruited the old legions, and raised +new ones, by additions from the same source. Trusting to this increase +of strength, Tullus declared war against the Sabines, a nation at that +time the most powerful, next to the Etruscans, in men and arms. On +both sides wrongs had been committed, and satisfaction demanded in +vain. Tullus complained that some Roman merchants had been seized in a +crowded market near the temple of Feronia:[31] the Sabines that some +of their people had previously taken refuge in the asylum, and had +been detained at Rome. These were put forward as the causes of the +war. The Sabines, well aware both that a portion of their strength had +been settled at Rome by Tatius, and that the Roman power had also been +lately increased by the accession of the Alban people, began, in like +manner, to look around for foreign aid themselves. Etruria was in +their neighbourhood; of the Etruscans the Veientes were the nearest. +From thence they attracted some volunteers, whose minds were stirred +up to break the truce, chiefly in consequence of the rankling +animosities from former wars. Pay also had its weight with some +stragglers belonging to the indigent population. They were assisted +by no aid from the government, and the loyal observation of the truce +concluded with Romulus was strictly kept by the Veientes: with respect +to the others it is less surprising. While both sides were preparing +for war with the utmost vigour, and the matter seemed to turn on this, +which side should first commence hostilities, Tullus advanced first +into the Sabine territory. A desperate battle took place at the wood +called Malitiosa, in which the Roman army gained a decisive advantage, +both by reason of the superior strength of their infantry, and also, +more especially, by the aid of their cavalry, which had been recently +increased. The Sabine ranks were thrown into disorder by a sudden +charge of the cavalry, nor could they afterward stand firm in battle +array, or retreat in loose order without great slaughter. + +After the defeat of the Sabines, when the government of Tullus and the +whole Roman state enjoyed great renown, and was highly flourishing, it +was announced to the king and senators, that it had rained stones on +the Alban Mount. As this could scarcely be credited, on persons being +sent to investigate the prodigy, a shower of stones fell from heaven +before their eyes, just as when balls of hail are pelted down to the +earth by the winds. They also seemed to hear a loud voice from the +grove on the summit of the hill, bidding the Albans perform their +religious services according to the rites of their native country, +which they had consigned to oblivion, as if their gods had been +abandoned at the same time as their country; and had either adopted +the religious rites of Rome, or, as often happens, enraged at their +evil destiny, had altogether renounced the worship of the gods. A +festival of nine days was instituted publicly by the Romans also on +account of the same prodigy, either in obedience to the heavenly voice +sent from the Alban Mount--for that, too, is reported--or by the +advice of the soothsayers. Anyhow, it continued a solemn observance, +that, whenever a similar prodigy was announced, a festival for nine +days was observed. Not long after, they were afflicted with +an epidemic; and though in consequence of this there arose an +unwillingness to serve, yet no respite from arms was given them by the +warlike king, who considered besides that the bodies of the young +men were more healthy when on service abroad than at home, until he +himself also was attacked by a lingering disease. Then that proud +spirit and body became so broken, that he, who had formerly considered +nothing less worthy of a king than to devote his mind to religious +observances, began to pass his time a slave to every form of +superstition, important and trifling, and filled the people's minds +also with religious scruples. The majority of his subjects, now +desiring the restoration of that state of things which had existed +under King Numa, thought that the only chance of relief for their +diseased bodies lay in grace and compassion being obtained from the +gods. It is said that the king himself, turning over the commentaries +of Numa, after he had found therein that certain sacrifices of a +secret and solemn nature had been performed to Jupiter Elicius, shut +himself up and set about the performance of those solemnities, but +that that rite was not duly undertaken or carried out, and that not +only was no heavenly manifestation vouchsafed to him, but he and his +house were struck by lightning and burned to ashes, through theanger +of Jupiter, who was exasperated at the ceremony having been improperly +performed.[32] Tullus reigned two-and-thirty years with great military +renown. + +On the death of Tullus, according to the custom established in the +first instance, the government devolved once more upon the senate, +who nominated an interrex; and on his holding the comitia, the people +elected Ancus Marciusking. The fathers ratified the election. Ancus +Marcius was the grandson of King Numa Pompilius by his daughter. As +soon as he began to reign, mindful of the renown of his grandfather, +and reflecting that the last reign, glorious as it had been in every +other respect, in one particular had not been adequately prosperous, +either because the rites of religion had been utterly neglected, or +improperly performed, and deeming it of the highest importance to +perform the public ceremonies of religion, as they had been instituted +by Numa, he ordered the pontiff, after he had recorded them all from +the king's commentaries on white tables, to set them up in a public +place. Hence, as both his own subjects, and the neighbouring nations +desired peace, hope was entertained that the king would adopt the +conduct and institutions of his grandfather. Accordingly, the Latins, +with whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign of Tullus, gained +fresh courage; and, after they had invaded Roman territory, returned +a contemptuous answer to the Romans when they demanded satisfaction, +supposing that the Roman king would spend his reign in indolence among +chapels and altars. The disposition of Ancus was between two extremes, +preserving the qualities of both Numa and Romulus; and, besides +believing that peace was more necessary in his grandfather's reign, +since the people were then both newly formed and uncivilized, he also +felt that he could not easily preserve the tranquility unmolested +which had fallen to his lot: that his patience was being tried and +being tried, was despised: and that the times generally were more +suited to a King Tullus than to a Numa. In order, however, that, since +Numa had instituted religious rites in peace, ceremonies relating to +war might be drawn up by him, and that wars might not only be waged, +but proclaimed also in accordance with some prescribed form, he +borrowed from an ancient nation, the AEquicolae, and drew up the form +which the heralds observe to this day, according to which restitution +is demanded. The ambassador, when he reaches the frontiers of the +people from whom satisfaction is demanded, having his head covered +with a fillet--this covering is of wool--says: "Hear, O Jupiter, hear, +ye confines" (naming whatsoever nation they belong to), "let divine +justice hear. I am the public messenger of the Roman people; I come +deputed by right and religion, and let my words gain credit." He then +definitely states his demands; afterward he calls Jupiter to witness: +"If I demand these persons and these goods to be given up to me +contrary to human or divine right, then mayest thou never permit me to +enjoy my native country." These words he repeats when he passes +over the frontiers: the same to the first man he meets: the same on +entering the gate: the same on entering the forum, with a slight +change of expression in the form of the declaration and drawing up of +the oath. If the persons whom he demands are not delivered up, after +the expiration of thirty-three days--for this number is enjoined by +rule--he declares war in the following terms: "Hear, Jupiter, and +thou, Janus Quirinus, and all ye celestial, terrestrial, and infernal +gods, give ear! I call you to witness, that this nation "(mentioning +its name)" is unjust, and does not carry out the principles of +justice: however, we will consult the elders in our own country +concerning those matters, by what means we may obtain our rights." +The messenger returns with them to Rome to consult. The king used +immediately to consult the fathers as nearly as possible in the +following words: "Concerning such things, causes of dispute, and +quarrels, as the pater patratus of the Roman people, the Quirites, has +treated with the pater patratus of the ancient Latins, and with the +ancient Latin people, which things ought to be given up, made good, +discharged, which things they have neither given up, nor made good, +nor discharged, declare," says he to him, whose opinion he asked +first, "what think you?" Then he replies: "I think that they should +be demanded by a war free from guilt and regularly declared; and +accordingly I agree, and vote for it." Then the others were asked +in order, and when the majority of those present expressed the same +opinion, war was agreed upon. It was customary for the fetialis to +carry in his hand a spear pointed with steel, or burned at the end +and dipped in blood, to the confines of the enemy's country, and in +presence of at least three grown-up persons, to say, "Forasmuch as +the states of the ancient Latins, and the ancient Latin people, have +offended against the Roman people of the Quirites, forasmuch as the +Roman people of the Quirites have ordered that there should be war +with the ancient Latins, and the senate of the Roman people, the +Quirites, have given their opinion, agreed, and voted that war should +be waged with the ancient Latins, on this account I and the Roman +people declare and wage war on the states of the ancient Latins, and +on the ancient Latin people." Whenever he said that, he used to hurl +the spear within their confines. After this manner at that time +satisfaction was demanded from the Latins, and war proclaimed: and +posterity has adopted that usage. + +Ancus, having intrusted the care of sacred matters to the flamen +and other priests, set out with an army freshly levied, and took +Politorium, a city of the Latins, by storm: and following the example +of former kings, who had increased the Roman power by incorporating +enemies into the state, transplanted all the people to Rome. And since +the Sabines had occupied the Capitol and citadel, and the Albans the +Coelian Mount on both sides of the Palatium, the dwelling-place of +the old Romans, the Aventine was assigned to the new people; not long +after, on the capture of Tellenae and Ficana, new citizens were added +to the same quarter. After this Politorium, which the ancient Latins +had taken possession of when vacated, was taken a second time by force +of arms. This was the cause of the Romans demolishing that city that +it might never after serve as a place of refuge for the enemy. At +last, the war with the Latins being entirely concentrated at Medullia, +the contest was carried on there for some time with changing success, +according as the fortune of war varied: for the town was both well +protected by fortified works, and strengthened by a powerful garrison, +and the Latins, having pitched their camp in the open, had several +times come to a close engagement with the Romans. At last Ancus, +making an effort with all his forces, first defeated them in a pitched +battle, and, enriched by considerable booty, returned thence to Rome: +many thousands of the Latins were then also admitted to citizenship, +to whom, in order that the Aventine might be united to the Palatium, +a settlement was assigned near the Temple of Murcia.[33] was likewise +added not from want of room, but lest at any time it should become a +stronghold for the enemy. It was resolved that it should not only be +surrounded by a wall, but also, for convenience of passage, be united +to the city by a wooden bridge, which was then for the first time +built across the Tiber. The fossa Quiritium, no inconsiderable defence +in places where the ground was lower and consequently easier of +access, was also the work of King Ancus. The state being augmented +by such great accessions, seeing that, amid such a multitude of +inhabitants (all distinction of right and wrong being as yet +confounded), secret crimes were committed, a prison [34] was built +in the heart of the city, overlooking the forum, to intimidate the +growing licentiousness. And not only was the city increased under this +king, but also its territory and boundaries. After the Mesian forest +had been taken from the Veientines, the Roman dominion was extended as +far as the sea, and the city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber; +salt-pits were dug around it, and, in consequence of the distinguished +successes in war, the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged. + +In the reign of Ancus, Lucumo,[35] a wealthy and enterprising man, +came to settle at Rome, prompted chiefly by the desire and hope of +high preferment, which he had no opportunity of obtaining at Tarquinii +(for there also he was descended from an alien stock). He was the son +of Demaratus, a Corinthian, who, an exile from his country on account +of civil disturbances had chanced to settle at Tarquinii, and having +married a wife there, had two sons by her. Their names were Lucumo +and Arruns. Lucumo survived his father, and became heir to all his +property. Arruns died before his father, leaving a wife pregnant. The +father did not long survive the son, and as he, not knowing that +his daughter-in-law was pregnant, had died without mentioning his +grandchild in his will, the boy who was born after the death of his +grandfather, and had no share in his fortune, was given the name of +Egerius on account of his poverty. Lucumo, who was, on the other +hand, the heir of all his father's property, being filled with high +aspirations by reason of his wealth, had these ambitions greatly +advanced by his marriage with Tanaquil, who was descended from a very +high family, and was a woman who would not readily brook that the +condition into which she had married should be inferior to that in +which she had been born. As the Etruscans despised Lucumo, as being +sprung from a foreign exile, she could not put up with the affront, +and, regardless of the natural love of her native country, provided +only she could see her husband advanced to honour, she formed the +design of leaving Tarquinii. Rome seemed particularly suited for that +purpose. In a state, lately founded, where all nobility is rapidly +gained and as the reward of merit, there would be room (she thought) +for a man of courage and activity. Tatius, a Sabine, had been king +of Rome: Numa had been sent for from Cures to reign there: Ancus was +sprung from a Sabine mother, and rested his title to nobility on the +single statue of Numa.[36] Without difficulty she persuaded him, +being, as he was, ambitious of honours, and one to whom Tarquinii was +his country only on his mother's side. Accordingly, removing their +effects, they set out for Rome. They happened to have reached the +Janiculum: there, as he sat in the chariot with his wife, an eagle, +gently swooping down on floating wings, took off his cap, and hovering +above the chariot with loud screams, as if it had been sent from +heaven for that very purpose, carefully replaced it on his head, +and then flew aloft out of sight. Tanaquil is said to have joyfully +welcomed this omen, being a woman well skilled, as the Etruscans +generally are, in celestial prodigies, and, embracing her husband, +bade him hope for a high and lofty destiny: that such a bird had come +from such a quarter of the heavens, and the messenger of such a god: +that it had declared the omen around the highest part of man: that it +had lifted the ornament placed on the head of man, to restore it to +him again, by direction of the gods. Bearing with them such hopes and +thoughts, they entered the city, and having secured a dwelling there, +they gave out his name as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. The fact that he +was a stranger and his wealth rendered him an object of attention +to the Romans. He himself also promoted his own good fortune by his +affable address, by the courteousness of his invitations, and by +gaining over to his side all whom he could by acts of kindness, until +reports concerning him reached even to the palace: and that notoriety +he, in a short time, by paying his court to the king without truckling +and with skilful address, improved so far as to be admitted on a +footing of intimate friendship, so much so that he was present at all +public and private deliberations alike, both foreign and domestic; +and being now proved in every sphere, he was at length, by the king's +will, also appointed guardian to his children. + +Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of the former kings both +in the arts of war and peace, and in renown. His sons were now nigh +the age of puberty; for which reason Tarquin was more urgent that +the assembly for the election of a king should be held as soon as +possible. The assembly having been proclaimed, he sent the boys out +of the way to hunt just before the time of the meeting. He is said to +have been the first who canvassed for the crown, and to have made a +speech expressly worded with the object of gaining the affections of +the people: saying that he did not aim at anything unprecedented, for +that he was not the first foreigner (a thing at which any one might +feel indignation or surprise), but the third who aspired to the +sovereignty of Rome. That Tatius who had not only been an alien, but +even an enemy, had been made king; that Numa, who knew nothing of +the city, and without solicitation on his part, had been voluntarily +invited by them to the throne. That he, from the time he was his own +master, had migrated to Rome with his wife and whole fortune, and +had spent a longer period of that time of life, during which men are +employed in civil offices, at Rome, than he had in his native country; +that he had both in peace and war become thoroughly acquainted with +the political and religious institutions of the Romans, under a master +by no means to be despised, King Ancus himself; that he had vied with +all in duty and loyalty to his king, and with the king himself in his +bounty to others. While he was recounting these undoubted facts, the +people with great unanimity elected him king. The same spirit of +ambition which had prompted Tarquin, in other respects an excellent +man, to aspire to the crown, attended him also on the throne. And +being no less mindful of strengthening his own power, than of +increasing the commonwealth, he elected a hundred new members into the +senate, who from that time were called minorum gentium, a party who +stanchly supported the king, by whose favour they had been admitted +into the senate. The first war he waged was with the Latins, in whose +territory he took the town of Apiolae by storm, and having brought +back thence more booty than might have been expected from the reported +importance of the war, he celebrated games with more magnificence and +display than former kings. The place for the circus, which is now +called Maximus, was then first marked out, and spaces were apportioned +to the senators and knights, where they might each erect seats for +themselves: these were called fori (benches). They viewed the games +from scaffolding which supported seats twelve feet in height from the +ground. The show consisted of horses and boxers that were summoned, +chiefly from Etruria. These solemn games, afterward celebrated +annually, continued an institution, being afterward variously called +the Roman and Great games. By the same king also spaces round the +forum were assigned to private individuals for building on; covered +walks and shops were erected. + +He was also preparing to surround the city with a stone wall, when a +war with the Sabines interrupted his plans. The whole thing was so +sudden, that the enemy passed the Anio before the Roman army could +meet and prevent them: great alarm therefore was felt at Rome. At +first they fought with doubtful success, and with great slaughter on +both sides. After this, the enemy's forces were led back into camp, +and the Romans having thus gained time to make preparations for the +war afresh, Tarquin, thinking that the weak point of his army lay +specially in the want of cavalry, determined to add other centuries to +the Ramnenses, Titienses, and Luceres which Romulus had enrolled, and +to leave them distinguished by his own name. Because Romulus had done +this after inquiries by augury, Attus Navius, a celebrated soothsayer +of the day, insisted that no alteration or new appointment could be +made, unless the birds had approved of it. The king, enraged at this, +and, as they say, mocking at his art, said, "Come, thou diviner, tell +me, whether what I have in my mind can be done or not?" When Attus, +having tried the matter by divination, affirmed that it certainly +could, "Well, then," said he, "I was thinking that you should cut +asunder this whetstone with a razor. Take it, then, and perform what +thy birds portend can be done." Thereupon they say that he immediately +cut the whetstone in two. A statue of Attus, with his head veiled, +was erected in the comitium, close to the steps on the left of the +senate-house, on the spot where the event occurred. They say also that +the whetstone was deposited in the same place that it might remain as +a record of that miracle to posterity. Without doubt so much honour +accrued to auguries and the college of augurs, that nothing was +subsequently undertaken either in peace or war without taking the +auspices, and assemblies of the people, the summoning of armies, and +the most important affairs of state were put off, whenever the +birds did not prove propitious. Nor did Tarquin then make any other +alteration in the centuries of horse, except that he doubled the +number of men in each of these divisions, so that the three centuries +consisted of one thousand eight hundred knights; only, those that were +added were called "the younger," but by the same names as the +earlier, which, because they have been doubled, they now call the six +centuries. + +This part of his forces being augmented, a second engagement took +place with the Sabines. But, besides that the strength of the Roman +army had been thus augmented, a stratagem also was secretly resorted +to, persons being sent to throw into the river a great quantity of +timber that lay on the banks of the Anio, after it had been first set +on fire; and the wood, being further kindled by the help of the wind, +and the greater part of it, that was placed on rafts, being driven +against and sticking in the piles, fired the bridge. This accident +also struck terror into the Sabines during the battle, and, after they +were routed, also impeded their flight. Many, after they had escaped +the enemy, perished in the river: their arms floating down the Tiber +to the city, and being recognised, made the victory known almost +before any announcement of it could be made. In that action the chief +credit rested with the cavalry: they say that, being posted on the +two wings, when the centre of their own infantry was now being driven +back, they charged so briskly in flank, that they not only checked +the Sabine legions who pressed hard on those who were retreating, but +suddenly put them to flight. The Sabines made for the mountains in +disordered flight, but only a few reached them; for, as has been +said before, most of them were driven by the cavalry into the river. +Tarquin, thinking it advisable to press the enemy hard while in a +state of panic, having sent the booty and the prisoners to Rome, and +piled in a large heap and burned the enemy's spoils, vowed as an +offering to Vulcan, proceeded to lead his army onward into the Sabine +territory. And though the operation had been unsuccessfully carried +out, and they could not hope for better success; yet, because the +state of affairs did not allow time for deliberation, the Sabines came +out to meet him with a hastily raised army. Being again routed there, +as the situation had now become almost desperate, they sued for peace. +Collatia and all the land round about was taken from the Sabines, and +Egerius, son of the king's brother, was left there in garrison. I +learn that the people of Collatia were surrendered, and that the +form of the surrender was as follows. The king asked them, "Are ye +ambassadors and deputies sent by the people of Collatia to surrender +yourselves and the people of Collatia?" "We are." "Are the people of +Collatia their own masters?" "They are." "Do ye surrender yourselves +and the people of Collatia, their city, lands, water, boundaries, +temples, utensils, and everything sacred or profane belonging to them, +into my power, and that of the Roman people?" "We do." "Then I receive +them." When the Sabine war was finished, Tarquin returned in triumph +to Rome. After that he made war upon the ancient Latins, wherein they +came on no occasion to a decisive engagement; yet, by shifting his +attack to the several towns, he subdued the whole Latin nation. +Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, +and Nomentum, towns which either belonged to the ancient Latins, or +which had revolted to them, were taken from them. Upon this, peace was +concluded. Works of peace were then commenced with even greater spirit +than the efforts with which he had conducted his wars, so that the +people enjoyed no more repose at home than it had already enjoyed +abroad; for he set about surrounding the city with a stone wall, on +the side where he had not yet fortified it, the beginning of which +work had been interrupted by the Sabine war; and the lower parts of +the city round the forum, and the other valleys lying between the +hills, because they could not easily carry off the water from the flat +grounds, he drained by means of sewers conducted down a slope into the +Tiber. He also levelled an open space for a temple of Jupiter in the +Capitol, which he had vowed to him in the Sabine war: as his mind even +then forecast the future grandeur of the place, he took possession of +the site by laying its foundations. + +At that time a prodigy was seen in the palace, which was marvellous +in its result. It is related that the head of a boy, called Servius +Tullius, as he lay asleep, blazed with fire in the presence of several +spectators: that, on a great noise being made at so miraculous a +phenomenon, the king and queen were awakened: and when one of the +servants was bringing water to put out the flame, that he was kept +back by the queen, and after the disturbance was quieted, that she +forbade the boy to be disturbed till he should awaken of his own +accord. As soon as he awoke the flame disappeared. Then Tanaquil, +taking her husband apart, said: "Do you see this boy whom bringing up +in so mean a style? Be assured that some time hereafter he will be a +light to us in our adversity, and a protector of our royal house when +in distress. Henceforth let us, with all the tenderness we can, train +up this youth, who is destined to prove the source of great glory to +our family and state." From this time the boy began to be treated as +their own son, and instructed in those accomplishments by which men's +minds are roused to maintain high rank with dignity. This was easily +done, as it was agreeable to the gods. The young man turned out to be +of truly royal disposition: nor when a son-in-law was being sought +for Tarquin, could any of the Roman youth be compared to him in any +accomplishment: therefore the king betrothed his own daughter to +him. The fact of this high honour being conferred upon him from +whatever cause, forbids us to believe that he was the son of a slave, +or that he had himself been a slave when young. I am rather of the +opinion of those who say that, on the taking of Corniculum, the wife +of Servius Tullius, who had been the leading man in that city, being +pregnant when her husband was slain, since she was known among the +other female prisoners, and, in consequence of her distinguished rank, +exempted from servitude by the Roman queen, was delivered of a child +at Rome, in the house of Tarquinius Priscus: upon this, that both the +intimacy between the women was increased by so great a kindness, +and that the boy, as he had been brought up in the family from his +infancy, was beloved and respected; that his mother's lot, in having +fallen into the hands of the enemy after the capture of her native +city, caused him to be thought to be the son of a slave. + +About the thirty-eighth year of Tarquin's reign, Servius Tullius +enjoyed the highest esteem, not only of the king, but also of the +senate and people. At this time the two sons of Ancus, though they had +before that always considered it the highest indignity that they +had been deprived of their father's crown by the treachery of their +guardian, that a stranger should be King of Rome, who not only did not +belong to a neighbouring, but not even to an Italian family, now felt +their indignation roused to a still higher pitch at the idea that +the crown would not only not revert to them after Tarquin, but would +descend even lower to slaves, so that in the same state, about the +hundredth year after Romulus, descended from a deity, and a deity +himself, had occupied the throne as long as he lived, Servius, one +born of a slave, would possess it: that it would be the common +disgrace both of the Roman name, and more especially of their family, +if, while there was male issue of King Ancus still living, the +sovereignty of Rome should be accessible not only to strangers, but +even to slaves. They determined therefore to prevent that disgrace by +the sword. But since resentment for the injury done to them incensed +them more against Tarquin himself, than against Servius, and the +consideration that a king was likely to prove a more severe avenger of +the murder, if he should survive, than a private person; and moreover, +even if Servius were put to death, it seemed likely that he would +adopt as his successor on the throne whomsoever else he might have +selected as his son-in-law. For these reasons the plot was laid +against the king himself. Two of the most brutal of the shepherds, +chosen for the deed, each carrying with him the iron tools of +husbandmen to the use of which he had been accustomed, by creating as +great a disturbance as they could in the porch of the palace, under +pretence of a quarrel, attracted the attention of all the king's +attendants to themselves; then, when both appealed to the king, and +their clamour had reached even the interior of the palace, they were +summoned and proceeded before him. At first both shouted aloud, and +vied in clamouring against each other, until, being restrained by +the lictor, and commanded to speak in turns, they at length ceased +railing: as agreed upon, one began to state his case. While the king's +attention, eagerly directed toward the speaker, was diverted from the +second shepherd, the latter, raising up his axe, brought it down upon +the king's head, and, leaving the weapon in the wound, both rushed out +of the palace. + +When those around had raised up Tarquin in a dying state, the lictors +seized the shepherds, who were endeavouring to escape. Upon this an +uproar ensued and a concourse of people assembled, wondering what was +the matter. Tanaquil, amid the tumult, ordered the palace to be shut, +and thrust out all spectators: at the same time she carefully prepared +everything necessary for dressing the wound, as if a hope still +remained: at the same time, she provided other means of safety, in +case her hopes should prove false. Having hastily summoned Servius, +after she had shown him her husband almost at his last gasp, holding +his right hand, she entreated him not to suffer the death of his +father-in-law to pass unavenged, nor to allow his mother-in-law to be +an object of scorn to their enemies. "Servius," said she, "if you are +a man, the kingdom belongs to you, not to those, who, by the hands of +others, have perpetrated a most shameful deed. Rouse yourself, and +follow the guidance of the gods, who portended that this head of yours +would be illustrious by formerly shedding a divine blaze around it. +Now let that celestial flame arouse you. Now awake in earnest. We, +too, though foreigners, have reigned. Consider who you are, not whence +you are sprung. If your own plans are rendered useless by reason of +the suddenness of this event, then follow mine." When the uproar +and violence of the multitude could scarcely be endured, Tanaquil +addressed the populace from the upper part of the palace [37] through +the windows facing the New Street (for the royal residence was near +the Temple of Jupiter Stator). She bade them be of good courage; that +the king was merely stunned by the suddenness of the blow; that the +weapon had not sunk deep into his body; that he had already come to +his senses again; that the blood had been wiped off and the wound +examined; that all the symptoms were favourable; that she was +confident they would see him in person very soon; that, in the +meantime, he commanded the people to obey the orders of Servius +Tullius; that the latter would administer justice, and perform all +the other functions of the king. Servius came forth wearing the +trabea[38], and attended by lictors, and seating himself on the king's +throne, decided some cases, and with respect to others pretended that +he would consult the king. Therefore, though Tarquin had now expired, +his death was concealed for several days, and Servius, under pretence +of discharging the functions of another, strengthened his own +influence. Then at length the fact of his death was made public, +lamentations being raised in the palace. Servius, supported by a +strong body-guard, took possession of the kingdom by the consent +of the senate, being the first who did so without the order of the +people. The children of Ancus, the instruments of their villainy +having been by this time caught, as soon as it was announced that the +king still lived, and that the power of Servius was so great, had +already gone into exile to Suessa Pometia. + +And now Servius began to strengthen his power, not more by public +than by private measures; and, that the children of Tarquin might not +entertain the same feelings toward himself as the children of Ancus +had entertained toward Tarquin, he united his two daughters in +marriage to the young princes, the Tarquinii, Lucius and Arruns. He +did not, however, break through the inevitable decrees of fate by +human counsels, so as to prevent jealousy of the sovereign power +creating general animosity and treachery even among the members of +his own family. Very opportunely for the immediate preservation of +tranquility, a war was undertaken against the Veientes (for the truce +had now expired) and the other Etruscans. In that war, both the valour +and good fortune of Tullius were conspicuous, and he returned to Rome, +after routing a large army of the enemy, undisputed king, whether he +tested the dispositions of the fathers or the people. He then set +about a work of peace of the utmost importance: that, as Numa had been +the author of religious institutions, so posterity might celebrate +Servius as the founder of all distinction in the state and of the +several orders by which any difference is perceptible between the +degrees of rank and fortune. For he instituted the census,[39] a most +salutary measure for an empire destined to become so great, according +to which the services of war and peace were to be performed, not by +every man, as formerly, but in proportion to his amount of property. +Then he divided the classes and centuries according to the census, and +introduced the following arrangement, eminently adapted either for +peace or war. + +Of those who possessed property to the value of a hundred thousand +asses[40] and upward, he formed eighty centuries, forty of seniors[41] +and forty of juniors.[42] All these were called the first class, the +seniors to be in readiness to guard the city, the juniors to carry on +war abroad. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a helmet, +a round shield, greaves, and a coat of mail, all of brass; these were +for the defence of the body: their weapons of offence were a spear and +a sword. To this class were added two centuries of mechanics, who were +to serve without arms: the duty imposed upon them was that of making +military engines in time of war. The second class included all those +whose property varied between seventy-five and a hundred thousand +asses, and of these, seniors and juniors twenty centuries were +enrolled. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a buckler +instead of a shield, and, except a coat of mail, all the rest were the +same. He decided that the property of the third class should amount to +fifty thousand asses: the number of its centuries was the same, and +formed with the same distinction of age: nor was there any change in +their arms, only the greaves were dispensed with. In the fourth class, +the property was twenty-five thousand asses: the same number of +centuries was formed; their arms were changed, nothing being given +them but a spear and a short javelin. The fifth class was larger, +thirty centuries being formed: these carried slings and stones for +throwing. Among them the supernumeraries, the horn-blowers and the +trumpeters, were distributed into three centuries. This class was +rated at eleven thousand asses. Property lower than this embraced the +rest of the citizens, and of them one century was made up which was +exempted from military service. Having thus arranged and distributed +the infantry, he enrolled twelve centuries of knights from among +the chief men of the state. While Romulus had only appointed three +centuries, Servius formed six others under the same names as they had +received at their first institution. Ten thousand asses were given +them out of the public revenue, to buy horses, and a number of widows +assigned them, who were to contribute two thousand asses yearly for +the support of the horses. All these burdens were taken off the poor +and laid on the rich. Then an additional honour was conferred upon +them: for the suffrage was not now granted promiscuously to all--a +custom established by Romulus, and observed by his successors--to +every man with the same privilege and the same right, but gradations +were established, so that no one might seem excluded from the right of +voting, and yet the whole power might reside in the chief men of the +state. For the knights were first called to vote, and then the eighty +centuries of the first class, consisting of the first class of the +infantry: if there occurred a difference of opinion among them, which +was seldom the case, the practice was that those of the second class +should be called, and that they seldom descended so low as to come +down to the lowest class. Nor need we be surprised, that the present +order of things, which now exists, after the number of the tribes was +increased to thirty-five, their number being now double of what it +was, should not agree as to the number of centuries of juniors and +seniors with the collective number instituted by Servius Tullius. For +the city being divided into four districts, according to the regions +and hills which were then inhabited, he called these divisions, +tribes, as I think, from the tribute. For the method of levying taxes +ratably according to the value of property was also introduced by him: +nor had these tribes any relation to the number and distribution of +the centuries. + +The census being now completed, which he had brought to a speedy close +by the terror of a law passed in reference to those who were +not rated, under threats of imprisonment and death, he issued a +proclamation that all the Roman citizens, horse and foot, should +attend at daybreak in the Campus Martius, each in his century. There +he reviewed the whole army drawn up in centuries, and purified it by +the rite called Suovetaurilia,[43] and that was called the closing +of the lustrum, because it was the conclusion of the census. Eighty +thousand citizens are said to have been rated in that survey. Fabius +Pictor, the most ancient of our historians, adds that that was the +number of those who were capable of bearing arms. To accommodate that +vast population the city also seemed to require enlargement. He took +in two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal; then next he enlarged the +Esquiline, and took up his own residence there, in order that dignity +might be conferred upon the place. He surrounded the city with a +rampart, a moat, and a wall:[44] thus he enlarged the pomerium. Those +who regard only the etymology of the word, will have the pomerium to +be a space of ground behind the walls: whereas it is rather a space +on each side of the wall, which the Etruscans, in building cities, +formerly consecrated by augury, within certain limits, both within and +without, in the direction they intended to raise the wall: so that +the houses might not be erected close to the walls on the inside, as +people commonly unite them now, and also that there might be some +space without left free from human occupation. This space, which was +forbidden to be tilled or inhabited, the Romans called pomerium, not +so much from its being behind the wall, as from the wall being behind +it: and in enlarging the boundaries of the city, these onsecrated +limits were always extended, as far as the walls were intended to be +advanced. + +When the population had been increased in consequence of the +enlargement of the city, and everything had been organized at home to +meet the exigencies both of peace and war, that the acquisition of +power might not always depend on mere force of arms, he endeavoured to +extend his empire by policy and at the same time to add some ornament +to the city. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus was even then in high +renown; it was reported that it had been built by all the states of +Asia in common. When Servius, in the company of some Latin nobles with +whom he had purposely formed ties of hospitality and friendship, +both in public and private, extolled in high terms such harmony +and association of their gods, by frequently harping upon the same +subject, he at length prevailed so far that the Latin states agreed +to build a temple of Diana at Rome[45] in conjunction with the Roman +people. This was an acknowledgment that the headship of affairs, +concerning which they had so often disputed in arms, was centred in +Rome. An accidental opportunity of recovering power by a scheme of his +own seemed to present itself to one of the Sabines, though that object +appears to have been left out of consideration by all the Latins, +in consequence of the matter having been so often attempted +unsuccessfully by arms. A cow of surprising size and beauty is said to +have been calved to a certain Sabine, the head of a family: her horns, +which were hung up in the porch of the Temple of Diana, remained for +many ages, to bear record to this marvel. The thing was regarded in +the light of a prodigy, as indeed it was, and the soothsayers declared +that sovereignty should reside in that state, a citizen of which had +sacrificed this heifer to Diana. This prediction had also reached the +ears of the high priest of the Temple of Diana. The Sabine, as soon as +a suitable day for the sacrifice seemed to have arrived, drove the cow +to Rome, led her to the Temple of Diana, and set her before the +altar. There the Roman priest, struck with the size of the victim, so +celebrated by fame, mindful of the response of the soothsayers, thus +accosted the Sabine: "What dost thou intend to do, stranger?" said +he; "with impure hands to offer sacrifice to Diana? Why dost not thou +first wash thyself in running water? The Tiber runs past at the bottom +of the valley." The stranger, seized with religious awe, since he was +desirous of everything being done in due form, that the event might +correspond with the prediction, forthwith went down to the Tiber. In +the meantime the Roman priest sacrificed the cow to Diana, gave great +satisfaction to the king, and to the whole state. + +Servius, though he had now acquired an indisputable right to the +kingdom by long possession, yet, as he heard that expressions were +sometimes thrown out by young Tarquin, to the effect that he occupied +the throne without the consent of the people, having first secured the +good-will of the people by dividing among them, man by man, the land +taken from their enemies, he ventured to propose the question to +them, whether they chose and ordered that he should be king, and +was declared king with greater unanimity than any other of his +predecessors. And yet even this circumstance did not lessen Tarquin's +hope of obtaining the throne; nay, because he had observed that the +matter of the distribution of land to the people was against the will +of the fathers, he thought that an opportunity was now presented to +him of arraigning Servius before the fathers with greater violence, +and of increasing his own influence in the senate, being himself a +hot-tempered youth, while his wife Tullia roused his restless temper +at home. For the royal house of the Roman kings also exhibited an +example of tragic guilt, so that through their disgust of kings, +liberty came more speedily, and the rule of this king, which was +attained through crime, was the last. This Lucius Tarquinius (whether +he was the son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus is not clear: +following the greater number of authorities, however, I should feel +inclined to pronounce him his son) had a brother, Arruns Tarquinius, a +youth of a mild disposition. To these two, as has been already stated, +the two Tullias, daughters of the king, had been married, they also +themselves being of widely different characters. It had come to pass, +through the good fortune, I believe, of the Roman people, that two +violent dispositions should not be united in marriage, in order that +the reign of Servius might last longer, and the constitution of +the state be firmly established. The haughty spirit of Tullia was +chagrined, that there was no predisposition in her husband, either to +ambition or daring. Directing all her regard to the other Tarquinius, +him she admired, him she declared to be a man, and sprung from royal +blood; she expressed her contempt for her sister, because, having a +man for her husband, she lacked that spirit of daring that a woman +ought to possess. Similarity of disposition soon drew them together, +as wickedness is in general most congenial to wickedness; but the +beginning of the general confusion originated with the woman. +Accustomed to the secret conversations of the husband of another, +there was no abusive language that she did not use about her husband +to his brother, about her sister to her sister's husband, asserting +that it would have been better for herself to remain unmarried, and he +single, than that she should be united with one who was no fit mate +for her, so that her life had to be passed in utter inactivity by +reason of the cowardice of another. If the gods had granted her the +husband she deserved, she would soon have seen the crown in possession +of her own house, which she now saw in possession of her father. She +soon filled the young man with her own daring. Lucius Tarquinius and +the younger Tullia, when the pair had, by almost simultaneous murders, +made their houses vacant for new nuptials, were united in marriage, +Servius rather offering no opposition than actually approving. + +Then indeed the old age of Tullius began to be every day more +endangered, his throne more imperilled. For now the woman from one +crime directed her thoughts to another, and allowed her husband no +rest either by night or by day, that their past crimes might not prove +unprofitable, saying that what she wanted was not one whose wife she +might be only in name, or one with whom she might live an inactive +life of slavery: what she wanted was one who would consider himself +worthy of the throne, who would remember that he was the son of +Tarquinius Priscus, who would rather have a kingdom than hope for it. +"If you, to whom I consider myself married, are such a one, I greet +you both as husband and king; but if not, our condition has been +changed so far for the worse, in that in your crime is associated with +cowardice. Why do you not gird yourself to the task? You need not, +like your father, from Corinth or Tarquinii, struggle for a kingdom in +a foreign land. Your household and country's gods, the statue of your +father, the royal palace and the kingly throne in that palace, and the +Tarquinian name, elect and call you king. Or if you have too little +spirit for this, why do you disappoint the state? Why suffer yourself +to be looked up to as a prince? Get hence to Tarquinii or Corinth. +Sink back again to your original stock, more like your brother than +your father." By chiding him with these and other words, she urged on +the young man: nor could she rest herself, at the thought that though +Tanaquil, a woman of foreign birth, had been able to conceive and +carry out so vast a project, as to bestow two thrones in succession on +her husband, and then on her son-in-law, she, sprung from royal blood, +had no decisive influence in bestowing and taking away a kingdom. +Tarquinius, driven on by the blind passion of the woman, began to go +round and solicit the support of the patricians, especially those of +the younger families:[46] he reminded them of his father's kindness, +and claimed a return for it, enticed the young men by presents, +increased his influence everywhere both by making magnificent promises +on his own part, as well as by accusations against the king. At +length, as soon as the time seemed convenient for carrying out his +purpose, he rushed into the forum, accompanied by a band of armed men; +then, while all were struck with dismay, seating himself on the throne +before the senate-house, he ordered the fathers to be summoned to the +senate-house by the crier to attend King Tarquinius. They assembled +immediately, some having been already prepared for this, others +through fear, lest it should prove dangerous to them not to have come, +astounded at such a strange and unheard-of event, and considering that +the reign of Servius was now at an end. Then Tarquinius began his +invectives with his immediate ancestors: That a slave, the son of a +slave, after the shameful death of his father, without an interregnum +being adopted, as on former occasions, without any election being +held, without the suffrages of the people, or the sanction of the +fathers, he had taken possession of the kingdom by the gift of a +woman; that so born, so created king, a strong supporter of the most +degraded class, to which he himself belonged, through a hatred of the +high station of others, he had deprived the leading men of the state +of their land and divided it among the very lowest; that he had laid +all the burdens, which were formerly shared by all alike, on the chief +members of the community; that he had instituted the census, in order +that the fortune of the wealthier citizens might be conspicuous in +order to excite envy, and ready to hand, that out of it he might +bestow largesses on the most needy, whenever he pleased. + +Servius, aroused by the alarming announcement, having come upon the +scene during this harangue, immediately shouted with a loud voice from +the porch of the senate-house: "What means this, Tarquin? By what +audacity hast thou dared to summon the fathers, while I am still +alive, or to sit on my throne?" When the other haughtily replied, +that he, a king's son, was occupying the throne of his father, a much +fitter successor to the throne than a slave; that he had insulted his +masters full long enough by shuffling insolence, a shout arose from +the partisans of both, the people rushed into the senate-house, and it +was evident that whoever came off victor would gain the throne. Then +Tarquin, forced by actual necessity to proceed to extremities, having +a decided advantage both in years and strength, seized Servius by the +waist, and having carried him out of the senate-house, hurled him +down the steps to the bottom. He then returned to the senate house +to assemble the senate. The king's officers and attendants took to +flight. The king himself, almost lifeless (when he was returning home +with his royal retinue frightened to death and had reached the top of +the Cyprian Street), was slain by those who had been sent by Tarquin, +and had overtaken him in his flight. As the act is not inconsistent +with the rest of her atrocious conduct, it is believed to have been +done by Tullia's advice. Anyhow, as is generally admitted, driving +into the forum in her chariot, unabashed by the crowd of men present, +she called her husband out of the senate-house, and was the first to +greet him, king; and when, being bidden by him to withdraw from such a +tumult, she was returning home, and had reached the top of the Cyprian +Street, where Diana's chapel lately stood, as she was turning on the +right to the Urian Hill, in order to ride up to the Esquiline, the +driver stopped terrified, and drew in his reins, and pointed out to +his mistress the body of the murdered Servius lying on the ground. +On this occasion a revolting and inhuman crime is said to have been +committed, and the place bears record of it. They call it the Wicked +Street, where Tullia, frantic and urged on by the avenging furies of +her sister and husband, is said to have driven her chariot over her +father's body, and to have carried a portion of the blood of her +murdered father on her blood-stained chariot, herself also defiled +and sprinkled with it, to her own and her husband's household gods, +through whose vengeance results corresponding with the evil beginning +of the reign were soon destined to follow. Servius Tullius reigned +forty-four years in such a manner that it was no easy task even for a +good and moderate successor to compete with him. However, this also +has proved an additional source of renown to him that together with +him perished all just and legitimate reigns. This same authority, so +mild and so moderate, because it was vested in one man, some say that +he nevertheless had intended to resign, had not the wickedness of his +family interfered with him as he was forming plans for the liberation +of his country. + +After this period Lucius Tarquinius began to reign, whose acts +procured him the surname of Proud, for he, the son-in-law, refused his +father-in-law burial, alleging that even Romulus was not buried after +death. He put to death the principal senators, whom he suspected +of having favoured the cause of Servius. Then, conscious that the +precedent of obtaining the crown by evil means might be borrowed from +him and employed against himself, he surrounded his person with a +body-guard of armed men, for he had no claim to the kingdom except +force, as being one who reigned without either the order of the people +or the sanction of the senate. To this was added the fact that, as he +reposed no hope in the affection of his citizens, he had to secure his +kingdom by terror; and in order to inspire a greater number with this, +he carried out the investigation of capital cases solely by himself +without assessors, and under that pretext had it in his power to put +to death, banish, or fine, not only those who were suspected or hated, +but those also from whom he could expect to gain nothing else but +plunder. The number of the fathers more particularly being in this +manner diminished, he determined to elect none into the senate in +their place, that the order might become more contemptible owing +to this very reduction in numbers, and that it might feel the less +resentment at no business being transacted by it. For he was the first +of the kings who violated the custom derived from his predecessors of +consulting the senate on all matters, and administered the business +of the state by taking counsel with his friends alone. War, peace, +treaties, alliances, all these he contracted and dissolved with +whomsoever he pleased, without the sanction of the people and senate, +entirely on his own responsibility. The nation of the Latins he was +particularly anxious to attach to him, so that by foreign influence +also he might be more secure among his own subjects; and he contracted +ties not only of hospitality but also of marriage with their leading +men. On Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, who was by far the most eminent +of those who bore the Latin name, being descended, if we believe +tradition, from Ulysses and the goddess Circe, he bestowed his +daughter in marriage, and by this match attached to himself many of +his kinsmen and friends. + +The influence of Tarquin among the chief men of the Latins being +now considerable, he issued an order that they should assemble on a +certain day at the grove of Ferentina,[47] saying that there were +matters of common interest about which he wished to confer with them. +They assembled in great numbers at daybreak. Tarquinius himself kept +the day indeed, but did not arrive until shortly before sunset. Many +matters were there discussed in the meeting throughout the day in +various conversations. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia inveighed violently +against the absent Tarquin, saying that it was no wonder the surname +of Proud was given him at Rome; for so they now called him secretly +and in whispers, but still generally. Could anything show more +haughtiness than this insolent mockery of the entire Latin nation? +After their chiefs had been summoned so great a distance from home, +he who had proclaimed the meeting did not attend; assuredly their +patience was being tried, in order that, if they submitted to the +yoke, he might crush them when at his mercy. For who could fail to see +that he was aiming at sovereignty over the Latins? This sovereignty, +if his own countrymen had done well in having intrusted it to him, or +if it had been intrusted and not seized on by murder, the Latins also +ought to intrust to him (and yet not even so, inasmuch as he was a +foreigner). But if his own subjects were dissatisfied with him (seeing +that they were butchered one after another, driven into exile, and +deprived of their property), what better prospects were held out to +the Latins? If they listened to him, they would depart thence, each to +his own home, and take no more notice of the day of meeting than he +who had proclaimed it. When this man, mutinous and full of daring, and +one who had obtained influence at home by such methods, was pressing +these and other observations to the same effect, Tarquin appeared on +the scene. This put an end to his harangue. All turned away from him +to salute Tarquin, who, on silence being proclaimed, being advised by +those next him to make some excuse for having come so late, said that +he had been chosen arbitrator between a father and a son: that, from +his anxiety to reconcile them, he had delayed: and, because that duty +had taken up that day, that on the morrow he would carry out what he +had determined. They say that he did not make even that observation +unrebuked by Turnus, who declared that no controversy could be more +quickly decided than one between father and son, and that it could be +settled in a few words--unless the son submitted to the father, he +would be punished. + +The Arician withdrew from the meeting, uttering these reproaches +against the Roman king. Tarquin, feeling the matter much more sorely +than he seemed to, immediately set about planning the death of Turnus, +in order to inspire the Latins with the same terror as that with which +he had crushed the spirits of his own subjects at home: and because +he could not be put to death openly, by virtue of his authority, he +accomplished the ruin of this innocent man by bringing a false charge +against him. By means of some Aricians of the opposite party, he +bribed a servant of Turnus with gold, to allow a great number +of swords to be secretly brought into his lodging. When these +preparations had been completed in the course of a single night, +Tarquin, having summoned the chief of the Latins to him a little +before day, as if alarmed by some strange occurrence, said that +his delay of yesterday, which had been caused as it were by some +providential care of the gods, had been the means of preservation to +himself and to them; that he had been told that destruction was being +plotted by Turnus for him and the chiefs of the Latin peoples, that he +alone might obtain the government of the Latins. That he would have +attacked them yesterday at the meeting; that the attempt had been +deferred, because the person who summoned the meeting was absent, who +was the chief object of his attack? That that was the reason of the +abuse heaped upon him during his absence, because he had disappointed +his hopes by delaying. That he had no doubt that, if the truth were +told him, he would come attended by a band of conspirators, at break +of day, when the assembly met, ready prepared and armed. That it was +reported that a great number of swords had been conveyed to his house. +Whether that was true or not, could be known immediately. He requested +them to accompany him thence to the house of Turnus. Both the daring +temper of Turnus, and his harangue of the previous day, and the delay +of Tarquin, rendered the matter suspicious, because it seemed possible +that the murder might have been put off in consequence of the latter. +They started with minds inclined indeed to believe, yet determined to +consider everything else false, unless the swords were found. When +they arrived there, Turnus was aroused from sleep, and surrounded +by guards: the slaves, who, from affection to their master, were +preparing to use force, being secured, and the swords, which had been +concealed, drawn out from all corners of the lodging, then indeed +there seemed no doubt about the matter: Turnus was loaded with +chains, and forthwith a meeting of the Latins was summoned amid great +confusion. There, on the swords being exhibited in the midst, such +violent hatred arose against him, that, without being allowed a +defence, he was put to death in an unusual manner; he was thrown into +the basin of the spring of Ferentina, a hurdle was placed over him, +and stones being heaped up in it, he was drowned. + +Tarquin then recalled the Latins to the meeting, and having applauded +them for having inflicted well-merited punishment on Turnus, as +one convicted of murder, by his attempt to bring about a change of +government, spoke as follows: That he could indeed proceed by a +long-established right; because, since all the Latins were sprung from +Alba, they were comprehended in that treaty by which, dating from the +time of Tullus, the entire Alban nation, with its colonies, had passed +under the dominion of Rome. However, for the sake of the interest of +all parties, he thought rather that that treaty should be renewed, and +that the Latins should rather share in the enjoyment of the prosperity +of the Roman people, than be constantly either apprehending or +suffering the demolition of their towns and the devastation of their +lands, which they had formerly suffered in the reign of Ancus, and +afterward in the reign of his own father. The Latins were easily +persuaded, though in that treaty the advantage lay on the side of +Rome: however, they both saw that the chiefs of the Latin nation sided +with and supported the king, and Turnus was a warning example, still +fresh in their recollections, of the danger that threatened each +individually, if he should make any opposition. Thus the treaty was +renewed, and notice was given to the young men of the Latins that, +according to the treaty, they should attend in considerable numbers +in arms, on a certain day, at the grove of Ferentina. And when they +assembled from all the states according to the edict of the Roman +king, in order that they should have neither a general of their own, +nor a separate command, nor standards of their own, he formed mixed +companies of Latins and Romans so as out of a pair of companies to +make single companies, and out of single companies to make a pair: and +when the companies had thus been doubled, he appointed centurions over +them. + +Nor was Tarquin, though a tyrannical prince in time of peace, +an incompetent general in war; nay, he would have equalled his +predecessors in that art, had not his degeneracy in other ways +likewise detracted from his merit in this respect. He first began the +war against the Volsci, which was to last two hundred years after his +time, and took Suessa Pometia from them by storm; and when by the sale +of the spoils he had realized forty talents of silver, he conceived +the idea of building a temple to Jupiter on such a magnificent scale +that it should be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman +Empire, and of the dignity of the place itself: for the building of +this temple he set apart the money realized by the sale of the spoils. +Soon after a war claimed his attention, which proved more protracted +than he had expected, in which, having in vain attempted to storm +Gabii,[48] a city in the neighbourhood, when, after suffering a +repulse from the walls, he was deprived also of all hope of taking it +by siege, he assailed it by fraud and stratagem, a method by no means +natural to the Romans. For when, as if the war had been abandoned, +he pretended to be busily engaged in laying the foundations of the +temple, and with other works in the city, Sextus, the youngest of his +three sons, according to a preconcerted arrangement, fled to Gabii, +complaining of the unbearable cruelty of his father toward himself: +that his tyranny had now shifted from others against his own family, +and that he was also uneasy at the number of his own children, and +intended to bring about the same desolation in his own house as he had +done in the senate, in order that he might leave behind him no issue, +no heir to his kingdom. That for his own part, as he had escaped from +the midst of the swords and weapons of his father, he was persuaded +he could find no safety anywhere save among the enemies of Lucius +Tarquinius: for--let them make no mistake--the war, which it was now +pretended had been abandoned, still threatened them, and he would +attack them when off their guard on a favourable opportunity. But if +there were no refuge for suppliants among them, he would traverse all +Latium, and would apply next to the Volscians, Aequans, and Hernicans, +until he should come to people who knew how to protect children from +the impious and cruel persecutions of parents. That perhaps he would +even find some eagerness to take up arms and wage war against this +most tyrannical king and his equally savage subjects. As he seemed +likely to go further, enraged as he was, if they paid him no regard, +he was kindly received by the Gabians. They bade him not be surprised, +if one at last behaved in the same manner toward his children as he +had done toward his subjects and allies--that he would ultimately vent +his rage on himself, if other objects failed him--that his own coming +was very acceptable to them, and they believed that in a short time it +would come to pass that by his aid the war would be transferred from +the gates of Gabii up to the very walls of Rome. + +Upon this, he was admitted into their public councils, in which, +while, with regard to other matters, he declared himself willing +to submit to the judgment of the elders of Gabii, who were better +acquainted with them, yet he every now and again advised them to renew +the war, claiming for himself superior knowledge in this, on the +ground of being well acquainted with the strength of both nations, +and also because he knew that the king's pride, which even his own +children had been unable to endure, had become decidedly hateful to +his subjects. As he thus by degrees stirred up the nobles of the +Gabians to renew the war, and himself accompanied the most active of +their youth on plundering parties and expeditions, and unreasonable +credit was increasingly given to all his words and actions, framed +as they were with the object of deceiving, he was at last chosen +general-in-chief in the war. In the course of this war when--the +people being still ignorant of what was going on--trifling skirmishes +with the Romans took place, in which the Gabians generally had the +advantage, then all the Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, were +eager to believe that Sextus Tarquinius had been sent to them as their +general, by the favour of the gods. By exposing himself equally +with the soldiers to fatigues and dangers, and by his generosity in +bestowing the plunder, he became so loved by the soldiers, that his +father Tarquin had not greater power at Rome than his son at Gabii. +Accordingly, when he saw he had sufficient strength collected to +support him in any undertaking, he sent one of his confidants to his +father at Rome to inquire what he wished him to do, seeing the gods +had granted him to be all-powerful at Gabii. To this courier no +answer by word of mouth was given, because, I suppose, he appeared of +questionable fidelity. The king went into a garden of the palace, as +if in deep thought, followed by his son's messenger; walking there for +some time without uttering a word, he is said to have struck off +the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff.[49] The messenger, +wearied with asking and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii +apparently without having accomplished his object, and told what +he had himself said and seen, adding that Tarquin, either through +passion, aversion to him, or his innate pride, had not uttered a +single word. As soon as it was clear to Sextus what his father wished, +and what conduct he enjoined by those intimations without words, he +put to death the most eminent men of the city, some by accusing them +before the people, as well as others, who from their own personal +unpopularity were liable to attack. Many were executed publicly, and +some, in whose case impeachment was likely to prove less plausible, +were secretly assassinated. Some who wished to go into voluntary exile +were allowed to do so, others were banished, and their estates, as +well as the estates of those who were put to death, publicly divided +in their absence. Out of these largesses and plunder were distributed; +and by the sweets of private gain the sense of public calamities +became extinguished, till the state of Gabii, destitute of counsel and +assistance, surrendered itself without a struggle into the power of +the Roman king. + +Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the +nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. He +next turned his attention to the affairs of the city. The chief of +these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the +Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind +posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the +son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion +of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to +Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved +to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several +of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the +battle against Romulus, and afterward consecrated and dedicated by +him. At the very outset of the foundation of this work it is said that +the gods exerted their divinity to declare the future greatness of so +mighty an empire; for, though the birds declared for the unhallowing +of all the other chapels, they did not declare themselves in favour +of it in the case of that of Terminus.[51] This omen and augury were +taken to import that the fact of Terminus not changing his residence, +and that he was the only one of the gods who was not called out of +the consecrated bounds devoted to his worship, was a presage of the +lasting stability of the state in general. This being accepted as +an omen of its lasting character, there followed another prodigy +portending the greatness of the empire. It was reported that the head +of a man, with the face entire, was found by the workmen when digging +the foundation of the temple. The sight of this phenomenon by no +doubtful indications portended that this temple should be the seat of +empire, and the capital of the world; and so declared the soothsayers, +both those who were in the city, and those whom they had summoned +from Etruria, to consult on this subject. The king's mind was thereby +encouraged to greater expense; in consequence of which the spoils +of Pometia, which had been destined to complete the work, scarcely +sufficed for laying the foundation. On this account I am more +inclined to believe Fabius (not to mention his being the more ancient +authority), that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who says +that forty thousand pounds of silver by weight were set apart for that +purpose, a sum of money neither to be expected from the spoils of any +one city in those times, and one that would more than suffice for the +foundations of any building, even the magnificent buildings of the +present day. + +Tarquin, intent upon the completion of the temple, having sent for +workmen from all parts of Etruria, employed on it not only the public +money, but also workmen from the people; and when this labour, in +itself no inconsiderable one, was added to their military service, +still the people murmured less at building the temples of the gods +with their own hands, than at being transferred, as they afterward +were, to other works, which, while less dignified, required +considerably greater toil; such were the erection of benches in the +circus, and conducting underground the principal sewer, the receptacle +of all the filth of the city; two works the like of which even modern +splendour has scarcely been able to produce.[52] After the people had +been employed in these works, because he both considered that such +a number of inhabitants was a burden to the city where there was no +employment for them, and further, was anxious that the frontiers of +the empire should be more extensively occupied by sending colonists, +he sent colonists to Signia[53] and Circeii,[54] to serve as defensive +outposts hereafter to the city on land and sea. While he was thus +employed a frightful prodigy appeared to him. A serpent gliding out of +a wooden pillar, after causing dismay and flight in the palace, not so +much struck the king's heart with sudden terror, as it filled him with +anxious solicitude. Accordingly, since Etruscan soothsayers were only +employed for public prodigies, terrified at this so to say private +apparition, he determined to send to the oracle of Delphi, the most +celebrated in the world; and not venturing to intrust the responses of +the oracle to any other person, he despatched his two sons to Greece +through lands unknown at that time, and yet more unknown seas. Titus +and Arruns were the two who set out. They were accompanied by Lucius +Junius Brutus, the son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a youth of an +entirely different cast of mind from that of which he had assumed the +disguise. He, having heard that the chief men of the city, among them +his own brother, had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave +nothing in regard to his ability that might be dreaded by the king, +nor anything in his fortune that might be coveted, and thus to be +secure in the contempt in which he was held, seeing that there was but +little protection in justice. Therefore, having designedly fashioned +himself to the semblance of foolishness, and allowing himself and his +whole estate to become the prey of the king, he did not refuse to take +even the surname of Brutus,[55] that, under the cloak of this surname, +the genius that was to be the future liberator of the Roman people, +lying concealed, might bide its opportunity. He, in reality being +brought to Delphi by the Tarquinii rather as an object of ridicule +than as a companion, is said to have borne with him as an offering to +Apollo a golden rod, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed out +for the purpose, a mystical emblem of his own mind. When they arrived +there, and had executed their father's commission, the young men's +minds were seized with the desire of inquiring to which of them the +sovereignty of Rome should fall. They say that the reply was uttered +from the inmost recesses of the cave, "Young men, whichever of you +shall first kiss his mother shall enjoy the sovereign power at Rome." +The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept secret with the utmost +care, that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might be ignorant +of the response of the oracle, and have no share in the kingdom; they +then cast lots among themselves, to decide which of them should first +kiss his mother, after they had returned to Rome. Brutus, thinking +that the Pythian response had another meaning, as if he had stumbled +and fallen, touched the ground with his lips, she being, forsooth, the +common mother of all mankind. After this they returned to Rome, where +preparations were being made with the greatest vigour for a war +against the Rutulians. + +The Rutulians, a very wealthy nation, considering the country and age +in which they lived, were at that time in possession of Ardea.[56] +Their wealth was itself the actual occasion of the war: for the Roman +king, whose resources had been drained by the magnificence of his +public works, was desirous of enriching himself, and also of soothing +the minds of his subjects by a large present of booty, as they, +independently of the other instances of his tyranny, were incensed +against his government, because they felt indignant that they had been +kept so long employed by the king as mechanics, and in labour only fit +for slaves. An attempt was made, to see if Ardea could be taken at the +first assault; when that proved unsuccessful, the enemy began to be +distressed by a blockade, and by siege-works. In the standing camp, as +usually happens when a war is tedious rather than severe, furloughs +were easily obtained, more so by the officers, however, than the +common soldiers. The young princes also sometimes spent their leisure +hours in feasting and mutual entertainments. One day as they +were drinking in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus +Tarquinius, the son of Egerius, was also at supper, they fell to +talking about their wives. Every one commended his own extravagantly: +a dispute thereupon arising, Collatinus said there was no occasion for +words, that it might be known in a few hours how far his wife Lucretia +excelled all the rest. "If, then," added he, "we have any youthful +vigour, why should we not mount our horses and in person examine the +behaviour of our wives? Let that be the surest proof to every one, +which shall meet his eyes on the unexpected arrival of the husband." +They were heated with wine. "Come on, then," cried all. They +immediately galloped to Rome, where they arrived when darkness was +beginning to fall. From thence they proceeded to Collatia,[57] +where they found Lucretia, not after the manner of the king's +daughters-in-law, whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious +banqueting with their companions, but, although the night was far +advanced, employed at her wool, sitting in the middle of the house in +the midst of her maids who were working around her. The honour of the +contest regarding the women rested with Lucretia. Her husband on his +arrival, and the Tarquinii, were kindly received; the husband, proud +of his victory, gave the young princes a polite invitation. There an +evil desire of violating Lucretia by force seized Sextus Tarquinius; +both her beauty, and her proved chastity urged him on. Then, after +this youthful frolic of the night, they returned to the camp. + +After an interval of a few days, Sextus Tarquinius, without the +knowledge of Collatinus, came to Collatia with one attendant only: +there he was made welcome by them, as they had no suspicion of his +design, and, having been conducted after supper into the guest +chamber, burning with passion, when all around seemed sufficiently +secure, and all fast asleep, he came to the bedside of Lucretia, as +she lay asleep, with a drawn sword, and with his left hand pressing +down the woman's breast, said: "Be silent, Lucretia; I am Sextus +Tarquinius. I have a sword in my hand. You shall die if you utter a +word." When the woman, awaking terrified from sleep, saw there was no +help, and that impending death was nigh at hand, then Tarquin declared +his passion, entreated, mixed threats with entreaties, tried all means +to influence the woman's mind. When he saw she was resolved, and +uninfluenced even by the fear of death, to the fear of death he added +the fear of dishonour, declaring that he would lay a murdered slave +naked by her side when dead, so that it should be said that she had +been slain in base adultery. When by the terror of this disgrace his +lust (as it were victorious) had overcome her inflexible chastity, +and Tarquin had departed, exulting in having triumphed over a woman's +honour by force, Lucretia, in melancholy distress at so dreadful a +misfortune, despatched one and the same messenger both to her father +at Rome, and to her husband at Ardea, bidding them come each with a +trusty friend; that they must do so, and use despatch, for a monstrous +deed had been wrought. Spurius Lucretius came accompanied by Publius +Valerius, the son of Volesus, Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in +company with whom, as he was returning to Rome, he happened to be met +by his wife's messenger. They found Lucretia sitting in her chamber +in sorrowful dejection. On the arrival of her friends the tears burst +from her eyes; and on her husband inquiring, whether all was well, "By +no means," she replied, "for how can it be well with a woman who +has lost her honour? The traces of another man are on your bed, +Collatinus. But the body only has been violated, the mind is +guiltless; death shall be my witness. But give me your right hands, +and your word of honour, that the adulterer shall not come off +unpunished. It is Sextus Tarquinius, who, an enemy last night in +the guise of a guest has borne hence by force of arms, a triumph +destructive to me, and one that will prove so to himself also, if you +be men." All gave their word in succession; they attempted to console +her, grieved in heart as she was, by turning the guilt of the act from +her, constrained as she had been by force, upon the perpetrator of +the crime, declaring that it is the mind sins, not the body; and that +where there is no intention, there is no guilt. "It is for you to +see," said she, "what is due to him. As for me, though I acquit myself +of guilt, I do not discharge myself from punishment; nor shall any +woman survive her dishonour by pleading the example of Lucretia." She +plunged a knife, which she kept concealed beneath her garment, into +her heart, and falling forward on the wound, dropped down expiring. +Her husband and father shrieked aloud. + +While they were overwhelmed with grief, Brutus drew the knife out of +the wound, and, holding it up before him reeking with blood, said: "By +this blood, most pure before the outrage of a prince, I swear, and I +call you, O gods, to witness my oath, that I will henceforth pursue +Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wicked wife, and all their children, +with fire, sword, and all other violent means in my power; nor will +I ever suffer them or any other to reign at Rome." Then he gave the +knife to Collatinus, and after him to Lucretius and Valerius, who were +amazed at such an extraordinary occurrence, and could not understand +the newly developed character of Brutus. However, they all took the +oath as they were directed, and, their sorrow being completely changed +to wrath, followed the lead of Brutus, who from that time ceased not +to call upon them to abolish the regal power. They carried forth the +body of Lucretia from her house, and conveyed it to the forum, where +they caused a number of persons to assemble, as generally happens, +by reason of the unheard-of and atrocious nature of an extraordinary +occurrence. They complained, each for himself, of the royal villainy +and violence. Both the grief of the father affected them, and also +Brutus, who reproved their tears and unavailing complaints, and +advised them to take up arms, as became men and Romans, against those +who dared to treat them like enemies. All the most spirited youths +voluntarily presented themselves in arms; the rest of the young men +followed also. From thence, after an adequate garrison had been left +at the gates at Collatia, and sentinels appointed, to prevent any one +giving intelligence of the disturbance to the royal party, the rest +set out for Rome in arms under the conduct of Brutus. When they +arrived there, the armed multitude caused panic and confusion wherever +they went. Again, when they saw the principal men of the state placing +themselves at their head, they thought that, whatever it might be, +it was not without good reason. Nor did the heinousness of the event +excite less violent emotions at Rome than it had done at Collatia: +accordingly, they ran from all parts of the city into the forum, and +as soon as they came thither, the public crier summoned them to attend +the tribune of the celeres [58], with which office Brutus happened to +be at the time invested. There a harangue was delivered by him, by no +means of the style and character which had been counterfeited by him +up to that day, concerning the violence and lust of Sextus Tarquinius, +the horrid violation of Lucretia and her lamentable death, the +bereavement of Tricipitinus,[59], in whose eyes the cause of his +daughter's death was more shameful and deplorable than that death +itself. To this was added the haughty insolence of the king himself, +and the sufferings and toils of the people, buried in the earth in the +task of cleansing ditches and sewers: he declared that Romans, the +conquerors of all the surrounding states, instead of warriors had +become labourers and stone-cutters. The unnatural murder of King +Servius Tullius was recalled, and the fact of his daughter having +driven over the body of her father in her impious chariot, and the +gods who avenge parents were invoked by him. By stating these and, I +believe, other facts still more shocking, which, though by no means +easy to be detailed by writers, the then heinous state of things +suggested, he so worked upon the already incensed multitude, that they +deprived the king of his authority, and ordered the banishment of +Lucius Tarquinius with his wife and children. He himself, having +selected and armed some of the younger men, who gave in their names as +volunteers, set out for the camp at Ardea to rouse the army against +the king: the command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had been +already appointed prefect of the city by the king. During this tumult +Tullia fled from her house, both men and women cursing her wherever +she went, and invoking upon her the wrath of the furies, the avengers +of parents. + +News of these transactions having reached the camp, when the king, +alarmed at this sudden revolution, was proceeding to Rome to quell the +disturbances, Brutus--for he had had notice of his approach--turned +aside, to avoid meeting him; and much about the same time Brutus and +Tarquinius arrived by different routes, the one at Ardea, the other at +Rome. The gates were shut against Tarquin, and sentence of banishment +declared against him; the camp welcomed with great joy the deliverer +of the city, and the king's sons were expelled. Two of them followed +their father, and went into exile to Caere, a city of Etruria. Sextus +Tarquinius, who had gone to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain +by the avengers of the old feuds, which he had stirred up against +himself by his rapines and murders. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned +twenty-five years: the regal form of government lasted, from the +building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and forty-four +years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius +Collatinus, were elected by the prefect of at the comitia of +centuries, according to the commentaries of Servius Tullius. + + +[Footnote 1: Books I-III are based upon the translation by John Henry +Freese, but in many places have been revised or retranslated by +Duffield Osborne.] + +[Footnote 2: The king was originally the high priest, his office more +sacerdotal than military: as such he would have the selection and +appointment of the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of Vesta, the +hearth-goddess. Their chief duty was to keep the sacred fire burning +("the fire that burns for aye"), and to guard the relics in the Temple +of Vesta. If convicted of unchastity they were buried alive.] + +[Footnote 3: Surely there is no lack of "historical criticism" here +and on a subject where a Roman writer might be pardoned for some +credulity.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 4: Livy ignores the more accepted and prettier tradition +that this event took place where the sacred fig-tree originally stood, +and that later it was miraculously transplanted to the comitium by +Attius Navius, the famous augur, "That it might stand in the midst of +the meetings of the Romans"--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: According to Varro, Rome was founded B.C. 753; according +to Cato, B.C. 751. Livy here derives Roma from Romulus, but this is +rejected by modern etymologists; according to Mommsen the word means +"stream-town," from its position on the Tiber.] + +[Footnote 6: The remarkable beauty of the white or mouse-coloured +cattle of central Italy gives a touch of realism to this story.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The introduction of the art of writing among the Romans +was ascribed to Evander. The Roman alphabet was derived from the +Greek, through the Grecian (Chalcidian) colony at Cumae.] + +[Footnote 8: The title patres originally signified the heads of +families, and was in early times used of the patrician senate, as +selected from these. When later, plebeians were admitted into the +senate, the members of the senate were all called patres, while +patricians, as opposed to plebeians, enjoyed certain distinctions and +privileges.] + +[Footnote 9: This story of the rape of the Sabines belongs to the +class of what are called "etiological" myths--i. e., stories invented +to account for a rite or custom, or to explain local names or +characteristics. The custom prevailed among Greeks and Romans of the +bridegroom pretending to carry off the bride from her home by force. +Such a custom still exists among the nomad tribes of Asia Minor. The +rape of the Sabine women was invented to account for this custom.] + +[Footnote 10: The spolia opima (grand spoils)--a term used to denote +the arms taken by one general from another--were only gained twice +afterward during the history of the republic; in B.C. 437, when A. +Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius of Veii; and in B.C. 222, when +the consul M. Claudius Marcellus slew Viridomarus, chief of the +Insubrian Gauls.] + +[Footnote 11: The place afterward retained its name, even when filled +up and dry. Livy (Book VII) gives a different reason for the name: +that it was so called from one Marcus Curtius having sprung, armed, +and on horseback, several hundred years ago (B.C. 362), into a gulf +that suddenly opened in the forum; it being imagined that it would +not close until an offering was made of what was most valuable in the +state--i. e., a warrior armed and on horseback. According to Varro, +it was a locus fulguritus (i. e., struck by lightning), which was +inclosed by a consul named Curtius.] + +[Footnote 12: Supposed to be derived from "Lucumo," the name or, +according to more accepted commentators, title of an Etruscan chief +who came to help Romulus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 13: The inhabitants of Fidenae, about five miles from Rome, +situated on the Tiber, near Castel Giubileo.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: About twelve and a half miles north of Rome, close to +the little river Cremera; it was one of the most important of the +twelve confederate Etruscan towns. Plutarch describes it as the +bulwark of Etruria: not inferior to Rome in military equipment and +numbers.] + +[Footnote 15: A naively circumstantial story characteristically told. +Though a republican, it is quite evident that Livy wishes to convey +the idea that Romulus, having by the creation of a body-guard aspired +to tyrannical power, was assassinated by the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: The reading in this section is uncertain.] + +[Footnote 17: Two interpretations are given of this passage--(1) +that out of each decury one senator was chosen by lot to make up the +governing body of ten; (2) that each decury as a whole held office in +succession, so that one decury was in power for fifty days.] + +[Footnote 18: At this time a grove: later it became one of the +artificers' quarters, lying beyond the forum and in the jaws of the +suburra, which stretched away over the level ground to the foot of the +Esquiline and Quirinal Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the +first month being March, and the number of days in the year only 304, +which corresponded neither with the course of the sun nor moon. Numa, +who added the two months of January and February, divided the year +into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the +lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted +355 days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar +year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days; this in +8 years amounted to (11-1/4 x 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided +into 2 months of 22, and 2 of 23 days [(2 x 22) + (2 x 23) = 90], +and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial +periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only +66 days instead of 90 days--i. e., he inserted 3 months of only 22 +days each. The reason was, because he adopted 355 days as the length +of his lunar year instead of 354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial +periods) produced an error of 24 days; this error was exactly +compensated by intercalating only 66 days (90--24) in the third +octennial period. The intercalations were generally made in the month +of February, after the 23d of the month. The management was left +to the pontiffs--ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent--dies +congruerent; "that the days might correspond to the same +starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out." +That is, taking for instance the Tropic of Cancer for the place or +starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in +that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object +was so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was +observed to arrive at that same meta or starting-point again, should +also be called the 21st of June.] + +[Footnote 20: A more general form of the legend ran to the effect that +but one of these shields fell from heaven, and that the others +were made like it, to lessen the chance of the genuine one being +stolen.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: The chief of the fetiales.] + +[Footnote 22: This vervain was used for religious purposes, and +plucked up by the roots from consecrated ground; it was carried by +ambassadors to protect them from violence.] + +[Footnote 23: This gate became later the starting-point of the Appian +Way.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 24: An imaginary sacred line that marked the bounds of the +city. It did not always coincide with the line of the walls, but was +extended from time to time. Such extension could only be made by +a magistrate who had extended the boundaries of the empire by his +victories,--D.O.] + +[Footnote 25: Literally, "Horatian javelins."--D.O.] + +[Footnote: Evidently so established after the destruction of the +inhabitants in the storming (see p. 17, above).--D. O.] + +[Footnote 27: Tiber and Anio.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 28: Scourging and beheading, scourging to death, burying +alive, and crucifixion (for slaves) may make us question the justice +of this boast. Foreign generals captured in war were only strangled. +Altogether, the Roman indifference to suffering was very marked as +compared with the humanity of the Greeks.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 29: The Lares were of human origin, being only the deified +ancestors of the family: the Penates of divine origin, the tutelary +gods of the family.] + +[Footnote 30: "Curia Hostilia." It was at the northwest corner of the +forum, northeast of the comitium.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 31: Identified with Juno.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 32: This story makes us suspect that it was the case of +another warlike king who had incurred the enmity of the senate. +The patricians alone controlled or were taught in religious +matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 33: Supposed to be an Etruscan goddess, afterward identified +with Jana, the female form of Janus, as was customary with the +Romans.--D.O.] The Janiculum [Footnote: The heights across the +Tiber.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Called Mamertinus; though apparently not until the +Middle Ages.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucumo seems to have been, originally at least, an +Etruscan title rather than name.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: No one was noble who could not show images of his +ancestors: and no one was allowed to have an image who had not filled +the highest offices of state: this was called jus imaginum.] + +[Footnote 37: This part of the Via Nova probably corresponded pretty +closely with the present Via S. Teodoro, and Tarquin's house +is supposed to have stood not far from the church of Sta. +Anastasia.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A white toga with horizontal purple stripes. This was +originally the royal robe. Later it became the ceremonial dress of +the equestrian order. The Salii, priests of Mars Gradivus, also wore +it--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: This was a quinquennial registering of every man's age, +family, profession, property, and residence, by which the amount of +his taxes was regulated. Formerly each full citizen contributed an +equal amount. Servius introduced a regulation of the taxes according +to property qualifications, and clients and plebeians alike had to +pay their contribution, if they possessed the requisite amount of +property.] + +[Footnote 40: Or, "pounds weight of bronze," originally reckoned by +the possession of a certain number of jugera (20 jugera being equal to +5,000 asses).] + +[Footnote 41: Between the ages of forty-six and sixty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: Between the ages of seventeen and forty-six--D.O.]. + +[Footnote 43: A ceremony of purification, from sus, ovis, and taurus: +the three victims were led three times round the army and sacrificed +to Mars. The ceremony took place every fifth year] + +[Footnote 44: These were the walls of Rome down to about 271-276 A.D., +when the Emperor Aurelian began the walls that now inclose the +city. Remains of the Servian wall are numerous and of considerable +extent.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: On the summit of the Aventine.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: Those introduced by Tarquinius Priscus, as related +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: At the foot of the Alban Hill. The general councils of +the Latins were held here up to the time of their final subjugation.] + +[Footnote 48: A few ruins on the Via Praenestina, about nine miles +from the Porta Maggiore, mark the site of Gabii. They are on the bank +of the drained Lago Castiglione, whence Macaulay's "Gabii of the +Pool".--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: This message without words is the same as that which, +according to Herodotus, was sent by Thrasybulus of Miletus to +Periander of Corinth. The trick by which Sextus gained the confidence +of the people of Gabii is also related by him of Zophyrus and Darius.] + +[Footnote 50: The name "Tarpeian," as given from the Tarpeia, whose +story is told above, was generally confined to the rock or precipice +from which traitors were thrown. Its exact location on the Capitoline +Hill does not seem positively determined; in fact, most of the sites +on this hill have been subjects of considerable dispute.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: The god of boundaries. His action seems quite in keeping +with his office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: The Cloaca Maxima, upon which Rome still relies for +much of her drainage, is more generally attributed to Tarquinius +Priscus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: The modern Segni, upward of thirty miles from Rome, on +the Rome-Naples line.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 54: On the coast, near Terracina. The Promontoria Circeo is +the traditional site of the palace and grave of Circe, whose story is +told in the Odyssey.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 55: Dullard.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: In the Pomptine marshes, about twenty miles south of +Rome and five from the coast.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 57: Its site, about nine miles from Rome, on the road to +Tivoli, is now known as Lunghezza.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 58: The royal body-guard. See the story of Romulus +above.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: Spurius Lucretius.--D.O.] + + + +BOOK II + +THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH + +The acts, civil and military, of the Roman people, henceforth free, +their annual magistrates, and the sovereignty of the laws, more +powerful than that of men, I will now proceed to recount. The haughty +insolence of the last king had caused this liberty to be the more +welcome: for the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all +in succession may be deservedly reckoned founders of those parts +at least of the city, which they independently added as new +dwelling-places for the population, which had been increased by +themselves. Nor is there any doubt that that same Brutus, who gained +such renown from the expulsion of King Superbus, would have acted to +the greatest injury of the public weal, if, through the desire of +liberty before the people were fit for it, he had wrested the kingdom +from any of the preceding kings. For what would have been the +consequence, if that rabble of shepherds and strangers, runaways from +their own peoples, had found, under the protection of an inviolable +sanctuary, either freedom, or at least impunity for former offences, +and, freed from all dread of regal authority, had begun to be +distracted by tribunician storms, and to engage in contests with the +fathers in a strange city, before the pledges of wives and children, +and affection for the soil itself, to which people become habituated +only by length of time, had united their affections? Their condition, +not yet matured, would have been destroyed by discord; but the +tranquillizing moderation of the government so fostered this +condition, and by proper nourishment brought it to such perfection, +that, when their strength was now developed, they were able to bring +forth the wholesome fruits of liberty. The first beginnings of +liberty, however, one may date from this period, rather because +the consular authority was made annual, than because of the royal +prerogative was in any way curtailed. The first consuls kept all the +privileges and outward signs of authority, care only being taken to +prevent the terror appearing doubled, should both have the fasces at +the same time. Brutus, with the consent of his colleague, was first +attended by the fasces, he who proved himself afterward as keen in +protecting liberty as he had previously shown himself in asserting it. +First of all he bound over the people, jealous of their newly-acquired +liberty, by an oath that they would suffer no one to be king in Rome, +for fear that later they might be influenced by the importunities +or bribes of the royal house. Next, that a full house might give +additional strength to the senate, he filled up the number of +senators, which had been diminished by the assassinations of +Tarquinius, to the full number of three hundred, by electing the +principal men of equestrian rank to fill their places: from this is +said to have been derived the custom of summoning into the senate both +the patres and those who were conscripti. They called those who +were elected, conscripti, enrolled, that is, as a new senate. It is +surprising how much that contributed to the harmony of the state, and +toward uniting the patricians and commons in friendship. + +Attention was then paid to religious matters, and, as certain public +functions had been regularly performed by the kings in person, to +prevent their loss being felt in any particular, they appointed a +king of the sacrifices.[1] This office they made subordinate to the +pontifex maximus, that the holder might not, if high office were added +to the title, prove detrimental to liberty, which was then their +principal care. And I do not know but that, by fencing it in on every +side to excess, even in the most trivial matters, they exceeded +bounds. For, though there was nothing else that gave offence, the name +of one of the consuls was an object of dislike to the state. +They declared that the Tarquins had been too much habituated to +sovereignty; that it had originated with Priscus: that Servius Tullius +had reigned next; that Tarquinius Superbus had not even, in spite of +the interval that had elapsed, given up all thoughts of the kingdom +as being the property of another, which it really was, but thought to +regain it by crime and violence, as if it were the heirloom of his +family; that after the expulsion of Superbus, the government was inthe +hands of Collatinus: that the Tarquins knew not how to live in a +private station; that the name pleased them not; that it was dangerous +to liberty. Such language, used at first by persons quietly sounding +the dispositions of the people, was circulated through the whole +state; and the people, now excited by suspicion, were summoned by +Brutus to a meeting. There first of all he read aloud the people's +oath: that they would neither suffer any one to be king, nor allow +any one to live at Rome from whom danger to liberty might arise. He +declared that this ought to be maintained with all their might, and +that nothing, that had any reference to it, ought to be treated with +indifference: that he said this with reluctance, for the sake of the +individual; and that he would not have said it, did not his affection +for the commonwealth predominate; that the people of Rome did not +believe that complete liberty had been recovered; that the regal +family, the regal name, was not only in the state but also in power; +that that was a stumbling-block, was a hindrance to liberty. "Do you, +Lucius Tarquinius," said he, "of your own free will, remove this +apprehension? We remember, we own it, you expelled the royal family; +complete your services: take hence the royal name; your property your +fellow-citizens shall not only hand over to you, by my advice, but, if +it is insufficient, they will liberally supply the want. Depart in a +spirit of friendship. Relieve the state from a dread which may be only +groundless. So firmly are men's minds persuaded that only with the +Tarquinian race will kingly power depart hence." Amazement at so +extraordinary and sudden an occurrence at first impeded the consul's +utterance; then, as he was commencing to speak, the chief men of the +state stood around him, and with pressing entreaties urged the same +request. The rest of them indeed had less weight with him, but +after Spurius Lucretius, superior to all the others in age and high +character, who was besides his own father-in-law, began to try various +methods, alternately entreating and advising, in order to induce him +to allow himself to be prevailed on by the general feeling of the +state, the consul, apprehensive that hereafter the same lot might +befall him, when his term of office had expired, as well as loss of +property and other additional disgrace, resigned his consulship, and +removing all his effects to Lavinium, withdrew from the city. Brutus, +according to a decree of the senate, proposed to the people, that all +who belonged to the family of the Tarquins should be banished from +Rome: in the assembly of centuries he elected Publius Valerius, with +whose assistance he had expelled the kings, as his colleague. + +Though nobody doubted that a war was impending from the Tarquins, yet +it broke out later than was generally expected; however, liberty was +well-nigh lost by fraud and treachery, a thing they never apprehended. +There were among the Roman youth several young men--and these of no +no rank--who, while the regal government lasted, had enjoyed greater +license in their pleasures, being the equals in age, boon companions +of the young Tarquins, and accustomed to live after the fashion of +princes. Missing that freedom, now that the privileges of all were +equalized,[2] they complained among themselves that the liberty of +others had turned out slavery for them: that a king was a human being, +from whom one could obtain what one wanted, whether the deed might be +an act of justice or of wrong; that there was room for favour and +good offices; that he could be angry, and forgive; that he knew the +difference between a friend and an enemy; that the laws were a deaf, +inexorable thing, more beneficial and advantageous for the poor than +for the rich; that they allowed no relaxation or indulgence, if one +transgressed due bounds; that it was perilous, amid so many human +errors, to have no security for life but innocence. While their minds +were already of their own accord thus discontented, ambassadors from +the royal family arrived unexpectedly, merely demanding restitution of +their personal property, without any mention of their return. After +their application had been heard in the senate, the deliberation about +it lasted for several days, as they feared that the non-restitution of +the property might be made a pretext for war, its restitution a fund +and assistance for the same. In the meantime the ambassadors were +planning a different scheme: while openly demanding the restoration of +property, they secretly concerted measures for recovering the throne, +and soliciting them, as if to promote that which appeared to be the +object in view, they sounded the minds of the young nobles; to those +by whom their proposals were favourably received they gave letters +from the Tarquins, and conferred with them about admitting the royal +family into the city secretly by night. + +The matter was first intrusted to the brothers Vitellii and Aquilii. A +sister of the Vitellii was married to Brutus the consul, and the issue +of that marriage was the grown-up sons, Titus and Tiberius; they also +were admitted by their uncles to share the plot; several young nobles +also were taken into their confidence, recollection of whose names has +been lost from lapse of time. In the meantime, as that opinion had +prevailed in the Senate, which was in favour of the property being +restored, the ambassadors made use of this as a pretext for lingering +in the city, and the time which they had obtained from the consuls +to procure conveyances, in which to remove the effects of the royal +family, they spent entirely in consultations with the conspirators, +and by persistent entreaties succeeded in getting letters given to +them for the Tarquins. Otherwise how could they feel sure that the +representations made by the ambassadors on matters of such importance +were not false? The letters, given as an intended pledge of their +sincerity, caused the plot to be discovered: for when, the day before +the ambassadors set out to the Tarquins, they had supped by chance at +the house of the Vitellii, and the conspirators had there discoursed +much together in private, as was natural, concerning their +revolutionary design, one of the slaves, who had already observed what +was on foot, overheard their conversation; he waited, however, for the +opportunity when the letters should be given to the ambassadors, the +detection of which would put the matter beyond a doubt. When he found +that they had been given, he laid the whole affair before the consuls. +The consuls left their home to seize the ambassadors and conspirators, +and quashed the whole affair without any disturbance, particular care +being taken of the letters, to prevent their being lost or stolen. +The traitors were immediately thrown into prison: some doubt was +entertained concerning the treatment of the ambassadors, and though +their conduct seemed to justify their being considered as enemies, the +law of nations nevertheless prevailed. + +The consideration of the restoration of the king's effects, for which +the senate had formerly voted, was laid anew before them. The fathers, +overcome by indignation, expressly forbade either their restoration or +confiscation. They were given to the people to be rifled, that, having +been polluted as it were by participation in the royal plunder, they +might lose forever all hopes of reconciliation with the Tarquins. A +field belonging to the latter, which lay between the city and the +Tiber, having been consecrated to Mars, was afterward called the +Campus Martius. It is said that there was by chance, at that time, a +crop of corn upon it ripe for harvest; this produce of the field, as +they thought it unlawful to use it, after it had been reaped, a large +number of men, sent into the field together, carried in baskets corn +and straw together, and threw it into the Tiber, which then was +flowing with shallow water, as is usual in the heat of summer; thus +the heaps of corn as they stuck in the shallows settled down, covered +over with mud; by means of these and other substances carried down to +the same spot, which the river brings along hap-hazard, an island[3] +was gradually formed. Afterward I believe that substructures were +added, and that aid was given by human handicraft, that the surface +might be well raised, as it is now and strong enough besides to bear +the weight even of temples and colonnades. After the tyrant's effects +had been plundered, the traitors were condemned and punishment +inflicted. This punishment was the more noticeable, because the +consulship imposed on the father the office of punishing his own +children, and to him, who should have been removed even as a +spectator, was assigned by fortune the duty of carrying out the +punishment. Young men of the highest rank stood bound to the stake; +but the consul's sons diverted the eyes of all the spectators from the +rest of the criminals, as from persons unknown; and the people felt +pity, not so much on account of their punishment, as of the crime by +which they had deserved it. That they, in that year above all others, +should have brought themselves to betray into the hands of one, who, +formerly a haughty tyrant, was now an exasperated exile, their country +recently delivered, their father its deliverer, the consulate which +took its rise from the Junian family, the fathers, the people, and +all the gods and citizens of Rome. The consuls advanced to take their +seats, and the lictors were despatched to inflict punishment. The +young men were stripped naked, beaten with rods, and their heads +struck off with the axe, while all the time the looks and countenance +of the father presented a touching spectacle, as his natural feelings +displayed themselves during the discharge of his duty in inflicting +public punishment. After the punishment of the guilty, that the +example might be a striking one in both aspects for the prevention of +crime, a sum of money was granted out of the treasury as a reward +to the informer: liberty also and the rights of citizenship were +conferred upon him. He is said to have been the first person made free +by the vindicta; some think that even the term vindicta is derived +from him, and that his name was Vindicius. [4] After him it was +observed as a rule, that all who were set free in this manner were +considered to be admitted to the rights of Roman citizens. + +On receiving the announcement of these events as they had occurred, +Tarquin, inflamed not only with grief at the annihilation of such +great hopes, but also with hatred and resentment, when he saw that the +way was blocked against stratagem, considering that war ought to +be openly resorted to, went round as a suppliant to the cities of +Etruria, imploring above all the Veientines and Tarquinians, not to +suffer him, a man sprung from themselves, of the same stock, to perish +before their eyes, an exile and in want, together with his grown-up +sons, after they had possessed a kingdom recently so flourishing. That +others had been invited to Rome from foreign lands to succeed to the +throne; that he, a king, while engaged in extending the Roman Empire +by arms, had been driven out by his nearest relatives by a villainous +conspiracy, that they had seized and divided his kingdom in portions +among themselves, because no one individual among them was deemed +sufficiently deserving of it: and had given up his effects to the +people to pillage, that no one might be without a share in the guilt. +That he was desirous of recovering his country and his kingdom, and +punishing his ungrateful subjects. Let them bring succour and aid him; +let them also avenge the wrongs done to them of old, the frequent +slaughter of their legions, the robbery of their land. These arguments +prevailed on the people of Veii, and with menaces they loudly +declared, each in their own name, that now at least, under the conduct +of a Roman general, their former disgrace would be wiped out, and what +they had lost in war would be recovered. His name and relationship +influenced the people of Tarquinii, for it seemed a high honour that +their countrymen should reign at Rome. Accordingly, the armies of +these two states followed Tarquin to aid in the recovery of his +kingdom, and to take vengeance upon the Romans in war. When they +entered Roman territory, the consuls marched to meet the enemy. +Valerius led the infantry in a square battalion: Brutus marched in +front with the cavalry to reconnoitre. In like manner the enemy's +horse formed the van of the army: Arruns Tarquinius, the king's son, +was in command: the king himself followed with the legions. Arruns, +when he knew at a distance by the lictors that it was a consul, and on +drawing nearer more surely discovered that it was Brutus by his face, +inflamed with rage, cried out: "Yonder is the man who has driven us +into exile from our native country! See how he rides in state adorned +with the insignia of our rank! Now assist me, ye gods, the avengers of +kings." He put spurs to his horse and charged furiously against the +consul. Brutus perceived that he was being attacked, and, as it was +honourable in those days for the generals to personally engage in +battle, he accordingly eagerly offered himself for combat. They +charged with such furious animosity, neither of them heedful of +protecting his own person, provided he could wound his opponent, that +each, pierced through the buckler by his adversary's blow, fell from +his horse in the throes of death, still transfixed by the two spears. +The engagement between the rest of the horse began at the same time, +and soon after the foot came up. There they fought with varying +success, and as it were with equal advantage. The right wings of both +armies were victorious, the left worsted. The Veientines, accustomed +to defeat at the hands of the Roman soldiers, were routed and put to +flight. The Tarquinians, who were a new foe, not only stood their +ground, but on their side even forced the Romans to give way. + +After the engagement had thus been fought, so great a terror seized +Tarquinius and the Etruscans, that both armies, the Veientine and +Tarquinian, abandoning the attempt as a fruitless one, departed by +night to their respective homes. Strange incidents are also reported +in the account of this battle--that in the stillness of the next night +a loud voice was heard from the Arsian wood;[5] that it was believed +to be the voice of Silvanus. That the following words were uttered: +that more of the Tuscans by one man had fallen in the fight: that the +Romans were victorious in the war. Under these circumstances, the +Romans departed thence as conquerors, the Etruscans as practically +conquered. For as soon as it was light, and not one of the enemy was +to be seen anywhere, Publius Valerius, the consul, collected the +spoils, and returned thence in triumph to Rome. He celebrated the +funeral of his colleague with all the magnificence possible at the +time. But a far greater honour to his death was the public sorrow, +especially remarkable in this particular, that the matrons mourned him +for a year as a parent, because he had shown himself so vigorous an +avenger of violated chastity. Afterward, the consul who survived--so +changeable are the minds of the people--after enjoying great +popularity, encountered not only jealousy, but suspicion, that +originated with a monstrous charge. Report represented that he was +aspiring to kingly power, because he had not substituted a colleague +in the room of Brutus, and was building on the top of Mount Velia:[6] +that an impregnable stronghold was being erected there in an elevated +and well-fortified position. These reports, widely circulated and +believed, disquieted the consul's mind at the unworthiness of the +charge; and, having summoned the people to an assembly, he mounted the +platform, after lowering the fasces. It was a pleasing sight to the +multitude that the insignia of authority were lowered before them, and +that acknowledgment was made, that the dignity and power of the people +were greater than that of the consul. Then, after they had been +bidden to listen, the consul highly extolled the good fortune of his +colleague, in that, after having delivered his country, he had died +while still invested with the highest rank, fighting in defence of the +commonwealth, when his glory was at its height, and had not yet turned +to jealousy. He himself (said he) had outlived his glory, and only +survived to incur accusation and odium: that, from being the liberator +of his country, he had fallen back to the level of the Aquilii and +Vitellii. "Will no merit then," said he, "ever be so approved in your +eyes as to be exempt from the attacks of suspicion? Was I to apprehend +that I, that bitterest enemy of kings, should myself have to submit +to the charge of desiring kingly power? Was I to believe that, even +though I should dwell in the citadel and the Capitol itself, I should +be dreaded by my fellow-citizens? Does my character among you depend +on so mere a trifle? Does your confidence in me rest on such slight +foundations, that it matters more where I am than what I am? The +house of Publius Valerius shall not stand in the way of your liberty, +Quirites; the Velian Mount shall be secure to you. I will not only +bring down my house into the plain, but will build it beneath the +hill, that you may dwell above me, the suspected citizen. Let those +build on the Velian Mount, to whom liberty can be more safely +intrusted than to Publius Valerius." Immediately all the materials +were brought down to the foot of the Velian Mount, and the house was +built at the foot of the hill, where the Temple of Vica Pota[7] now +stands. + +After this laws were proposed by the consul, such as not only freed +him from all suspicion of aiming at regal power, but had so contrary +a tendency, that they even made him popular. At this time he was +surnamed Publicola. Above all, the laws regarding an appeal to the +people against the magistrates, and declaring accursed the life and +property of any one who should have formed the design of seizing regal +authority,[8] were welcome to the people. Having passed these laws +while sole consul, so that the merit of them might be exclusively his +own, he then held an assembly for the election of a new colleague. +Spurius Lucretius was elected consul, who, owing to his great age, and +his strength being inadequate to discharge the consular duties, died +within a few days. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was chosen in the room of +Lucretius. In some ancient authorities I find no mention of Lucretius +as consul; they place Horatius immediately after Brutus. My own belief +is that, because no important event signalized his consulate, all +record of it has been lost. The Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol had +not yet been dedicated; the conuls Valerius and Horatius cast lots +which should dedicate it. The duty fell by lot to Horatius. Publicola +departed to conduct the war against the Veientines. The friends of +Valerius were more annoyed than the circumstances demanded that the +dedication of so celebrated a temple was given to Horatius. Having +endeavoured by every means to prevent it, when all other attempts had +been tried and failed, at the moment when the consul was holding the +door-post during his offering of prayer to the gods, they suddenly +announced to him the startling intelligence that his son was dead, and +that, while his family was polluted by death, he could not dedicate +the temple. Whether he did not believe that it was true, or whether +he possessed such great strength of mind, is neither handed down for +certain, nor is it easy to decide. On receiving the news, holding the +door-post, without turning off his attention in any other way from the +business he was engaged completed the form of prayer, and dedicated +the temple. Such were the transactions at home and abroad during +the first year after the expulsion of the kings. After this Publius +Valerius, for the second time, and Titus Lucretius were elected +consuls. + +By this time the Tarquins had fled to Lars Porsina, King of Clusium. +There, mingling advice with entreaties, they now besought him not to +suffer them, who were descended from the Etruscans, and of the same +stock and name, to live in exile and poverty; now advised him also not +to let the rising practice of expelling kings pass unpunished. Liberty +in itself had charms enough; and, unless kings defended their thrones +with as much vigour as the people strove for liberty, the highest was +put on a level with the lowest; there would be nothing exalted in +states, nothing to be distinguished above the rest; that the end of +regal government, the most beautiful institution both among gods and +men, was close at hand. Porsina, thinking it a great honour to the +Tuscans both that there should be a king at Rome, and that one +belonging to the Etruscan nation, marched toward Rome with a hostile +army. Never before on any other occasion did such terror seize the +senate; so powerful was the state of Clusium[9] at that time, and so +great the renown of Porsina. Nor did they dread their enemies only, +but even their own citizens, lest the common people of Rome, smitten +with fear, should, by receiving the Tarquins into the city, accept +peace even at the price of slavery. Many concessions were therefore +granted to the people by the senate during that period by way of +conciliating them. Their attention, in the first place, was directed +to the markets, and persons were sent, some to the country of the +Volscians, others to Cumae, to buy up corn. The privilege of selling +salt also was withdrawn from private individuals because it was sold +at an exorbitant price, while all the expense fell upon the state:[10] +and the people were freed from duties and taxes, inasmuch as the rich, +since they were in a position to bear the burden, should contribute +them; the poor, they said, paid taxes enough if they brought up their +children. This indulgence on the part of the fathers accordingly kept +the state so united during their subsequent adversity in time of siege +and famine, that the lowest as much as the highest abhorred the name +of king; nor did any single individual afterward gain such popularity +by intriguing practices, as the whole body of the senate at that time +by their excellent government. + +On the approach of the enemy, they all withdrew for protection from +the country into the city, and protected the city itself with military +garrisons. Some parts seemed secured by the walls, others by the Tiber +between. The Sublician [11] bridge well-nigh afforded a passage to +the enemy, had it not been for one man, Horatius Cocles: in him the +protecting spirit of Rome on that day found a defence. He happened to +be posted on guard at the bridge: and, when he saw the Janiculum taken +by a sudden assault, and the enemy pouring down from thence at full +speed, and his own party, in confusion, abandoning their arms and +ranks, seizing hold of them one by one, standing in their way, and +appealing to the faith of gods and men, he declared, that their flight +would avail them nothing if they deserted their post; if they crossed +the bridge and left it behind them, there would soon be greater +numbers of the enemy in the Palatium and Capitol than in the +Janiculum; therefore he advised and charged them to break down the +bridge, by sword, by fire, or by any violent means whatsoever; that +he himself would receive the attack of the enemy as far as resistance +could be offered by the person of one man. He then strode to the front +entrance of the bridge, and being easily distinguished among those +whose backs were seen as they gave way before the battle, he struck +the enemy with amazement by his surprising boldness as he faced round +in arms to engage the foe hand to hand. Two, however, a sense of shame +kept back with him, Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, both men of +high birth, and renowned for their gallant exploits. With them he for +a short time stood the first storm of danger, and the severest brunt +of the battle. Afterward, as those who were cutting down the bridge +called upon them to retire, and only a small portion of it was left, +he obliged them also to withdraw to a place of safety. Then, casting +his stern eyes threateningly upon all the nobles of the Etruscans, he +now challenged them singly, now reproached them all as the slaves of +haughty tyrants, who, unmindful of their own freedom, came to attack +that of others. For a considerable time they hesitated, looking round +one upon another, waiting to begin the fight. A feeling of shame then +stirred the army, and raising a shout, they hurled their weapons from +all sides on their single adversary; and when they had all stuck in +the shield he held before him, and he with no less obstinacy kept +possession of the bridge with firm step, they now began to strive to +thrust him down from it by their united attack, when the crash of the +falling bridge, and at the same time the shout raised by the Romans +for joy at having completed their task, checked their assault with +sudden consternation. Then Cocles said, "Father Tiberinus, holy one, I +pray thee, receive these arms, and this thy soldier, in thy favouring +stream." So, in full armour, just as he was, he leapedinto the Tiber, +and, amid showers of darts that fell upon him, swam across unharmed to +his comrades, having dared a deed which is likely to obtain more fame +than belief with posterity.[12] The state showed itself grateful +toward such distinguished valour; a statue of him was erected in the +comitium, and as much land was given to him as he could draw a furrow +round in one day with a plough. The zeal of private individuals also +was conspicuous in the midst of public honours. For, notwithstanding +the great scarcity, each person contributed something to him in +proportion to his private means, depriving himself of his own means of +support. + +Porsina, repulsed in his first attempt, having changed his plans to a +siege of the city, and a blockade, and pitched his camp in the plain +and on the bank of the Tiber, placed a garrison in the Janiculum. +Then, sending for boats from all parts, both to guard the river, so as +to prevent any provisions being conveyed up stream to Rome, and also +that his soldiers might get across to plunder in different places as +opportunity offered, in a short time he so harassed all the country +round Rome, that not only was everything else conveyed out of the +country, but even the cattle were driven into the city, and nobody +ventured to drive them without the gates. This liberty of action was +granted to the Etruscans, not more from fear than from design: for the +consul Valerius, eager for an opportunity of falling unawares upon a +number of them together in loose order, careless of taking vengeance +in trifling matters, reserved himself as a serious avenger for more +important occasions. Accordingly, in order to draw out the pillagers, +he ordered a large body of his men to drive out their cattle the next +day by the Esquiline gate, which was farthest from the enemy, thinking +that they would get intelligence of it, because during the blockade +and scarcity of provisions some of the slaves would turn traitors and +desert. And in fact they did learn by the information of a deserter, +and parties far more numerous than usual crossed the river in the hope +of seizing all the booty at once. Then Publius Valerius commanded +Titus Herminius, with a small force, to lie in ambush at the second +milestone on the road to Gabii, and Spurius Larcius, with a party of +light-armed youths, to post himself at the Colline gate while the +enemy was passing by, and then to throw himself in their way to cut +off their return to the river. The other consul, Titus Lucretius, +marched out of the Naevian gate with some companies of soldiers, while +Valerius himself led some chosen cohorts down from the Colan Mount. +These were the first who were seen by the enemy. Herminius, when he +perceived the alarm, rushed from his ambush and fell upon the rear of +the Etruscans, who had turned against Valerius. The shout was returned +on the right and left, from the Colline gate on the one side and +the Naevian on the other. Thus the plunderers were put to the sword +between both, being neither their match in strength for fighting, and +all the ways being blocked up to prevent escape: this put an end to +the disorderly raids of the Etruscans. + +The blockade, however, was carried on none the less, and corn was both +scarce and very dear. Porsina still entertained the hope that, by +continuing the blockade, he would be able to reduce the city, when +Gaius Mucius, a young noble, who considered it a disgrace that the +Roman people, who, even when in a state of slavery, while under the +kings, had never been confined within their walls during any war, or +blockaded by any enemy, should now, when a free people, be blockaded +by these very Etruscans whose armies they had often routed--and +thinking that such disgrace ought to be avenged by some great and +daring deed, at first designed on his own responsibility to make his +way into the enemy's camp. Then, being afraid that, if he went without +the permission of the consuls, and unknown to all, he might perhaps be +seized by the Roman guards and brought back as a deserter, since the +circumstances of the city at the time rendered such a charge credible, +he approached the senate. "Fathers," said he, "I desire to cross +the Tiber, and enter the enemy's camp, if I may be able, not as +a plunderer, nor as an avenger to exact retribution for their +devastations: a greater deed is in my mind, if the gods assist." The +senate approved. He set out with a dagger concealed under his garment. +When he reached the camp, he stationed himself where the crowd was +thickest, near the king's tribunal. There, as the soldiers happened +to be receiving their pay, and the king's secretary, sitting by him, +similarly attired, was busily engaged, and generally addressed by +the soldiers, he killed the secretary, against whom chance blindly +directed the blow, instead of the king, being afraid to ask which of +the two was Porsina, lest, by displaying his ignorance of the king, +he should disclose who he himself was. As he was moving off in the +direction where with his bloody dagger he had made a way for himself +through the dismayed multitude, the crowd ran up on hearing the noise, +and he was immediately seized and brought back by the king's guards: +being set before the king's tribunal, even then, amid the perilous +fortune that threatened him, more capable of inspiring dread than +of feeling it, "I am," said he, "a Roman citizen; men call me Gaius +Mucius; an enemy, I wished to slay an enemy, nor have I less courage +to suffer death than I had to inflict it. Both to do and to suffer +bravely is a Roman's part. Nor have I alone harboured such feelings +toward you; there follows after me a long succession of aspirants to +the same honour. Therefore, if you choose, prepare yourself for this +peril, to be in danger of your life from hour to hour: to find the +sword and the enemy at the very entrance of your tent: such is the war +we, the youth of Rome, declare against you; dread not an army in the +field, nor a battle; you will have to contend alone and with each of +us one by one." When the king, furious with rage, and at the same time +terrified at the danger, threateningly commanded fires to be kindled +about him, if he did not speedily disclose the plots, at which in his +threats he had darkly hinted, Mucius said, "See here, that you may +understand of how little account the body is to those who have great +glory in view"; and immediately thrust his right hand into the fire +that was lighted for sacrifice. When he allowed it to burn as if +his spirit were quite insensible to any feeling of pain, the king, +well-nigh astounded at this surprising sight, leaped from his seat and +commanded the young man to be removed from the altar. "Depart," said +he, "thou who hast acted more like an enemy toward thyself than toward +me. I would bid thee go on and prosper in thy valour, if that valour +were on the side of my country. I now dismiss thee unharmed and +unhurt, exempt from the right of war." Then Mucius, as if in return +for the kindness, said: "Since bravery is held in honour with you, +that you may obtain from me by your kindness that which you could not +obtain by threats, know that we are three hundred, the chief of the +Roman youth, who have conspired to attack you in this manner. The +lot fell upon me first. The rest will be with you each in his turn, +according to the fortune that shall befall me who drew the first lot, +until fortune on some favourable opportunity shall have delivered you +into their hands." + +Mucius, to whom the surname of Scaevola[13] was afterward given from +the loss of his right hand, was let go and ambassadors from Porsina +followed him to Rome. The danger of the first attempt, in which +nothing had protected him but the mistake of his secret assailant, +and the thought of the risk of life he would have to run so often in +proportion to the number of surviving conspirators that remained, made +so strong an impression upon him that of his own accord he offered +terms of peace to the Romans. In these terms the restoration of the +Tarquins to the throne was proposed and discussed without success, +rather because he felt he could not refuse that to the Tarquins, than +from ignorance that it would be refused him by the Romans. In regard +to the restoration of territory to the Veientines his request was +granted, and the obligation of giving hostages, if they wished the +garrison to be withdrawn from the Janiculum, was extorted from the +Romans. Peace being concluded on these terms, Porsina led his troops +down from the Janiculum, and withdrew from Roman territory. The +fathers bestowed upon Gaius Mucius, in reward for his valour, some +land on the other side of the Tiber, which was afterward called the +Mucian meadows. By this honour paid to valour women also were roused +to deeds that brought glory to the state. Among others, a young woman +named Claelia, one of the hostages, escaped her keepers, and, as the +camp of the Etruscans had been pitched not far from the bank of the +Tiber, swam over the river, amid the darts of the enemy, at the head +of a band of maidens, and brought them all back in safety to their +relations at Rome. When news of this was brought to the king, at +first, furious with rage, he sent deputies to Rome to demand the +hostage Claelia, saying that he did not set great store by the rest: +afterward, his feelings being changed to admiration, he said that +this deed surpassed those of men like Cocles and Mucius, and further +declared that, as he would consider the treaty broken if the hostage +were not delivered up, so, if she were given up, he would send her +back unharmed and unhurt to her friends. Both sides kept faith: the +Romans restored their pledge of peace according to treaty: and with +the Etruscan king valour found not only security, but also honour; +and, after praising the maiden, he promised to give her, as a present, +half the hostages, allowing her to choose whom she pleased. When they +had all been led forth, she is said to have picked out those below the +age of puberty, a choice which both reflected honour upon her maiden +delicacy, and was one likely to be approved of by consent of the +hostages themselves--that those who were of such an age as was most +exposed to injury should above all others be delivered from the enemy. +Peace being renewed, the Romans rewarded this instance of bravery +uncommon in a woman with an uncommon kind of honour: an equestrian +statue, which, representing a maiden sitting on horseback, was erected +at the top of the Via Sacra.[14] + +The custom handed down from the ancients, and which has continued down +to our times among other usages at public sales, that of selling +the goods of King Porsina, is inconsistent with this account of so +peaceful a departure of the Etruscan king from the city. The origin +of this custom must either have arisen during the war, and not been +abandoned in time of peace, or it must have grown from a milder +beginning than the form of expression seems, on the face of it, to +indicate, of selling the goods as if taken from an enemy. Of the +accounts handed down, the most probable is, that Porsina, when +retiring from the Janiculum, made a present to the Romans of his camp +rich with stores of provisions conveyed from the neighbouring fertile +fields of Etruria, as the city was then exhausted owing to the long +siege: that then, to prevent its contents being plundered as if it +belonged to an enemy when the people were admitted, they were sold, +and called the goods of Porsina, the expression rather conveying the +idea of a thankworthy gift than an auction of the king's property, +seeing that this never even came into the power of the Roman people. +Porsina, having abandoned the war against the Romans, that his army +might not seem to have been led into those parts to no purpose, +sent his son Arruns with part of his forces to besiege Aricia. The +unexpected occurrence at first terrified the Aricians: afterward aid, +which had been sent for, both from the people of Latium and from +Cumae,[15] inspired such hope that they ventured to try the issue of a +pitched battle. At the beginning of the battle the Etruscans attacked +so furiously that they routed the Aricians at the first onset. But the +Cuman cohorts, employing stratagem against force, moved off a little +to one side, and when the enemy were carried beyond them in loose +array, they wheeled round and attacked them in the rear. By this means +the Etruscans, when on the point of victory, were hemmed in and cut to +pieces. A very small number of them, having lost their general, and +having no nearer refuge, came to Rome without their arms, in the +plight and guise of suppliants. There they were kindly received and +distributed in different lodgings. When their wounds had been attended +to, some with. Affection for their hosts and for the city caused many +others to remain at Rome: a quarter was assigned them to dwell in, +which has ever since been called the Tuscan Street.[16] + +Spurius Lucretius and Publius Valerius Publicola were next elected +consuls. In that year ambassadors came from Porsina for the last time, +to discuss the restoration of Tarquin to the throne. And when answer +had been given them, that the senate would send deputies to the king, +the most distinguished of that order were forthwith despatched to +explain that it was not because the answer could not have been given +in a few words--that the royal family would not be received--that +select members of the senate had been deputed to him, rather than an +answer given to his ambassadors at Rome, but in order that all mention +of the matter might be put an end to forever, and that their minds +might not be disturbed amid so many mutual acts of kindness on both +sides, by his asking what was adverse to the liberty of the Roman +people, and by their refusing him (unless they were willing to promote +their own destruction) whom they would willingly refuse nothing. That +the Roman people were not now under a kingly government, but in the +enjoyment of freedom, and were accordingly resolved to open their +gates to enemies sooner than to kings. That it was the wish of all, +that the end of their city's freedom might also be the end of the city +itself. Wherefore, if he wished Rome to be safe, they entreated him +to suffer it to be free. The king, overcome by feelings of respect, +replied: "Since that is your firm and fixed resolve, I will neither +annoy you by importunities, by urging the same request too often to no +purpose, nor will I disappoint the Tarquins by holding out hopes of +aid, which it is not in my power to give them; whether they have need +of peace, or of war, let them go hence and seek another place of +exile, that nothing may hinder the peace between us." To kindly words +he added deeds still more friendly: he delivered up the remainder of +the hostages, and restored to them the land of the Veientines, which +had been taken from them by the treaty concluded at the Janiculum. +Tarquin, now that all hope of return was cut off, went into exile to +Tusculum [17] to his son-in-law Octavius Mamilius. Thus a lasting +peace was concluded between Porsina and the Romans. + +The next consuls were Marcus Valerius and Publius Postumius. During +that year war was carried on successfully against the Sabines; the +consuls received the honour of a triumph. Upon this the Sabines made +preparations for war on a larger scale. To make head against them, and +to prevent any sudden danger arising from Tusculum, from which quarter +war, though not openly declared, was suspected, Publius Valerius was +created consul a fourth time, and Titus Lucretius a second time. A +disturbance that arose among the Sabines between the advocates of +war and of peace transferred considerable strength from them to the +Romans. For Attius Clausus, who was afterward called Appius Claudius +at Rome, being himself an advocate of peace, when hard pressed by +the agitators for war, and being no match for the party, fled from +Regillum to Rome, accompanied by a great number of dependents. The +rights of citizenship and land on the other side of the Anio were +bestowed on them. This settlement was called the old Claudian tribe, +and was subsequently increased by the addition of new tribesmen who +kept arriving from that district. Appius, being chosen into the +senate, was soon after advanced to the rank of the highest in that +order. The consuls entered the territories of the Sabines with a +hostile army, and when, both by laying waste their country, and +afterward by defeating them in battle, they had so weakened the power +of the enemy that for a long time there was no reason to dread the +renewal of the war in that quarter, they returned to Rome in triumph. +The following year, Agrippa Menenius and Publius Postumius being +consuls, Publius Valerius, by universal consent the ablest man in +Rome, in the arts both of peace and war, died covered with glory, but +in such straitened private circumstances that there was not enough +to defray the expenses of a public funeral: one was given him at +the public charge. The matrons mourned for him as they had done for +Brutus. The same year two Latin colonies, Pometia and Cora,[18] +revolted to the Auruncans.[19] War was commenced against the +Auruncans, and after a large army, which boldly met the consuls +as they were entering their frontiers, had been defeated, all the +operations of the Auruncan war were concentrated at Pometia. Nor, +after the battle was over, did they refrain from slaughter any more +than when it was going on: the number of the slain was considerably +greater than that of the prisoners, and the latter they put to death +indiscriminately. Nor did the wrath of war spare even the hostages, +three hundred in number, whom they had received. This year also the +consuls celebrated a triumph at Rome. + +The succeeding consuls, Opiter Verginius and Spurius Cassius, first +endeavoured to take Pometia by storm, and afterward by means of +mantlets [20] and other works. But the Auruncans, stirred up against +them more by an irreconcilable hatred than induced by any hopes of +success, or by a favourable opportunity, having sallied forth, more of +them armed with lighted torches than swords, filled all places with +fire and slaughter. Having fired the mantlets, slain and wounded many +of the enemy, they almost succeeded in slaying one of the consuls, who +had been thrown from his horse and severely wounded: which of them it +was, authorities do not mention. Upon this the Romans returned to the +city unsuccessful: the consul was taken back with many more wounded, +with doubtful hope of his recovery. After a short interval, sufficient +for attending to their wounds and recruiting their army, they attacked +Pometia with greater fury and increased strength. When, after the +mantlets and the other military works had been repaired, the soldiers +were on the point of mounting the walls, the town surrendered. Yet, +though the town had surrendered, the Auruncans were treated with no +less cruelty than if it had been taken by assault: the chief men were +beheaded: the rest, who were colonists, were sold by auction, the town +was razed, and the land sold. The consuls obtained a triumph more from +having violently gratified their[21] resentment than in consequence of +the importance of the war thus concluded. + +In the following year Postumus Cominius and Titus Larcius were +consuls. In that year, during the celebration of the games at Rome, as +some courtesans were being carried off by some of the Sabine youth +in wanton frolic, a crowd assembled, a quarrel ensued, and almost +a battle: and in consequence of this trifling occurrence the whole +affair seemed to point to a renewal of hostilities, which inspired +even more apprehension than a Latin war. Their fears were further +increased, because it was known for certain that thirty different +states had already entered into a confederacy against them, at the +instigation of Octavius Mamilius. While the state was troubled during +the expectation of such important events, the idea of nominating a +dictator was mentioned for the first time. + +But in what year, or who the consuls were in whom confidence was not +reposed, because they belonged to the party of the Tarquins--for that +also is reported--or who was elected dictator for the first time, is +not satisfactorily established. Among the oldest authorities, however, +I find that Titus Larcius was appointed the first dictator, and +Spurius Cassius master of the horse. They chose men of consular +dignity: so the law that was passed for the election of a dictator +ordained. For this reason, I am more inclined to believe that Larcius, +who was of consular rank, was attached to the consuls as their +director and superior, rather than Manius Valerius, the son of Marcus +and grandson of Volesus, who had not vet been consul. Moreover, had +they intended a dictator to be chosen from that family under any +circumstances, they would much rather have chosen his father, Marcus +Valerius, a man of consular rank, and of approved merit. On the first +creation of the dictator at Rome, when they saw the axes carried +before him, great awe came upon the people,[22] so that they became +more attentive to obey orders. For neither, as was the case under the +consuls, who possessed equal power, could the assistance of one of +them be invoked, nor was there any appeal, nor any chance of redress +but in attentive submission. The creation of a dictator at Rome also +terrified the Sabines, and the more so because they thought he was +created on their account. Accordingly, they sent ambassadors to treat +concerning peace. To these, when they earnestly entreated the dictator +and senate to pardon a youthful offence, the answer was given, that +the young men might be forgiven, but not the old, seeing that they +were continually stirring up one war after another. Nevertheless they +continued to treat about peace, which would have been granted, if the +Sabines had brought themselves to make good the expenses incurred +during the war, as was demanded. War was proclaimed; a truce, however, +with the tacit consent of both parties, preserved peace throughout the +year. + +Servius Sulpicius and Manius Tullius were consuls the next year: +nothing worth mentioning happened. Titus Aebutius and Gaius Vetusius +succeeded. In their consulship Fideae was besieged, Crustumeria taken, +and Praeneste[23] revolted from the Latins to the Romans. Nor was the +Latin war, which had now been fomenting for several years, any longer +deferred. Aulus Postumius the dictator, and Titus Aebutius his master +of the horse, setting out with a numerous army of horse and foot, +met the enemy's forces at the Lake Regillus,[24] in the territory of +Tusculum, and, because it was rumoured that the Tarquins were in the +army of the Latins, their rage could not be restrained, so that +they immediately came to an engagement. Accordingly, the battle was +considerably more severe and fierce than others. For the generals +were present not only to direct matters by their instructions, but, +exposing their own persons, they met in combat. And there was hardly +one of the principal officers of either army who came off unwounded, +except the Roman dictator. As Postumius was encouraging his men in the +first line, and drawing them up in order, Tarquinius Superbus, though +now advanced in years and enfeebled, urged on his horse to attack him: +and, being wounded in the side, he was carried off by a party of his +men to a place of safety. In like manner, on the other wing, Aebutius, +master of the horse, had charged Octavius Mamilius; nor was his +approach unobserved by the Etruscan general, who in like manner +spurred his horse against him. And such was their impetuosity as they +advanced with lances couched, that Aebutius was pierced through the +arm and Mamilius run through the breast. The Latins received the +latter into their second line; Aebutius, as he was unable to wield +his lance with his wounded arm, retired from the battle. The Latin +general, no way discouraged by his wound, stirred up the fight: and, +because he saw that his own men were disheartened, sent for a company +of Roman exiles, commanded by the son of Lucius Tarquinius. This body, +inasmuch as they fought with greater fury, owing to the loss of their +country, and the seizure of their estates, for a while revived the +battle. + +When the Romans were now beginning to give ground in that quarter, +Marcus Valerius, brother of Publicola, having observed young Tarquin +boldly parading himself at the head of his exiles, fired besides with +the renown of his house, that the family, which had gained glory by +having expelled the kings, might also have the glory of destroying +them, put spurs to his horse, and with his javelin couched made toward +Tarquin. Tarquin retreated before his infuriated foe to a battalion of +his own men. As Valerius rode rashly into the line of the exiles, one +of them attacked him and ran him sideways through the body, and as the +horse was in no way impeded by the wound of his rider, the Roman sank +to the ground expiring, with his arms falling over his body. Postumius +the dictator, seeing the fall of so distinguished a man, and that the +exiles were advancing boldly at a run, and his own men disheartened +and giving ground, gave the signal to his own cohort, a chosen body of +men which he kept for the defence of his person, to treat every Roman +soldier, whom they saw fleeing from the battle, as an enemy. Upon this +the Romans, in fear of the danger on both sides, turned from flight +and attacked the enemy, and the battle was restored. The dictator's +cohort then for the first time engaged in the fight, and with persons +and courage unimpaired, fell on the wearied exiles, and cut them +to pieces. There another engagement took place between the leading +officers. The Latin general, on seeing the cohort of the exiles +almost surrounded by the Roman dictator, hurried up some companies of +reserves to the front. Titus Herminius, a lieutenant-general, seeing +them advancing in a body, and recognising Mamilius, distinguished +among them by his armour and dress, encountered the leader of the +enemy with violence so much greater than the master of the horse had +shown a little before, that at one thrust he ran him through the +side and slew him. While stripping the body of his enemy, he himself +received a wound with a javelin, and, though brought back to the camp +victorious, died while it was being dressed. Then the dictator hurried +up to the cavalry, entreating them, as the infantry were tired out, to +dismount and take up the fight. They obeyed his orders, dismounted, +flew to the front, and, taking the place of the first line, covered +themselves with their targets. The infantry immediately recovered +their courage when they saw the young nobles sustaining a share of the +danger with them, the mode of fighting being now the same for +all. Then at length the Latins were beaten back, and their line, +disheartened, gave way. The horses were then brought up to the +cavalry, that they might pursue the enemy: the infantry likewise +followed. Thereupon the dictator, disregarding nothing that held out +hope of divine or human aid, is said to have vowed a temple to Castor, +and to have promised rewards to the first and second of the soldiers +who should enter the enemy's camp. Such was the ardour of the Romans +that they took the camp with the same impetuosity wherewith they had +routed the enemy in the field. Such was the engagement at the Lake +Regillus. + +The dictator and master of the horse returned to the city in triumph. +For the next three years there was neither settled peace nor open war. +The consuls were Q. Cloelius and T. Larcius. They were succeeded by +A. Sempronius and M. Minucius. During their consulship a temple was +dedicated to Saturn and the festival of the Saturnalia instituted. +The next consuls were A. Postumius and T. Verginius. I find in some +authors this year given as the date of the battle at Lake Regillus, +and that A. Postumius laid down his consulship because the fidelity +of his colleague was suspected, on which a Dictator was appointed. So +many errors as to dates occur, owing to the order in which the consuls +succeeded being variously given, that the remoteness in time of both +the events and the authorities make it impossible to determine either +which consuls succeeded which, or in what year any particular event +occurred. Ap. Claudius and P. Servilius were the next consuls. This +year is memorable for the news of Tarquin's death. His death took +place at Cuma, whither he had retired, to seek the protection of the +tyrant Aristodemus after the power of the Latins was broken. The news +was received with delight by both senate and plebs. But the elation of +the patricians was carried to excess. Up to that time they had treated +the commons with the utmost deference, now their leaders began to +practice injustice upon them. The same year a fresh batch of colonists +was sent to complete the number at Signia, a colony founded by King +Tarquin. The number of tribes at Rome was increased to twenty-one. The +temple of Mercury was dedicated on May 15. + +The relations with the Volscians during the Latin war were neither +friendly nor openly hostile. The Volscians had collected a force which +they were intending to send to the aid of the Latins had not the +Dictator forestalled them by the rapidity of his movements, a rapidity +due to his anxiety to avoid a battle with the combined armies. To +punish them the consuls led the legions into the Volscian country. +This unexpected movement paralysed the Volscians, who were not +expecting retribution for what had been only an intention. Unable +to offer resistance, they gave as hostages three hundred children +belonging to their nobility, drawn from Cora and Pometia. The legions, +accordingly, were marched back without fighting. Relieved from the +immediate danger, the Volscians soon fell back on their old policy, +and after forming an armed alliance with the Hernicans, made secret +preparations for war. They also despatched envoys through the length +and breadth of Latium to induce that nation to join them. But after +their defeat at Lake Regillus the Latins were so incensed against +every one who advocated a resumption of hostilities that they did not +even spare the Volscian envoys, who were arrested and conducted to +Rome. There they were handed over to the consuls and evidence was +produced showing that the Volscians and Hernicans were preparing for +war with Rome. When the matter was brought before the senate, they +were so gratified by the action of the Latins that they sent back six +thousand prisoners who had been sold into slavery, and also referred +to the new magistrates the question of a treaty which they had +hitherto persistently refused to consider. The Latins congratulated +themselves upon the course they had adopted, and the advocates of +peace were in high honour. They sent a golden crown as a gift to +the Capitoline Jupiter. The deputation who brought the gift were +accompanied by a large number of the released prisoners, who visited +the houses where they had worked as slaves to thank their former +masters for the kindness and consideration shown them in their +misfortunes, and to form ties of hospitality with them. At no +previous period had the Latin nation been on more friendly terms both +politically and personally with the Roman government. + +But a war with the Volscians was imminent, and the State was torn with +internal dissensions; the patricians and the plebeians were bitterly +hostile to one another, owing mainly to the desperate condition of the +debtors. They loudly complained that whilst fighting in the field +for liberty and empire they were oppressed and enslaved by their +fellow-citizens at home; their freedom was more secure in war than +in peace, safer amongst the enemy than amongst their own people. The +discontent, which was becoming of itself continually more embittered, +was still further aggravated by the striking sufferings of an +individual. A man advanced in years rushed into the forum with the +tokens of his utter misery upon him. His clothes were covered with +filth, his personal appearance still more pitiable, pale, and +emaciated. In addition, a long beard and hair gave a wild look to his +countenance. Notwithstanding his wretched appearance however, he +was recognised, and people said that he had been a centurion, and, +compassionating him, recounted other distinctions that he had gained +in war: he himself exhibited scars on his breast in front, which bore +witness to honourable battles in several places. When they repeatedly +inquired the reason of his plight, and wretched appearance, a crowd +having now gathered round him almost like a regular assembly, he said, +that, while serving in the Sabine war, because he had not only been +deprived of the produce of his land in consequence of the depredations +of the enemy, but his residence had also been burned down, all his +effects pillaged, his cattle driven off, and a tax imposed on him at a +time when it pressed most hardly upon him, he had got into debt: that +this debt, increased by exorbitant interest, had stripped him first of +his father's and grandfather's farm, then of all his other property; +lastly that, like a wasting sickness, it had reached his person: that +he had been dragged by his creditor, not into servitude, but into a +house of correction and a place of torture. He then showed his back +disfigured with the marks of recent scourging. At this sight and these +words a great uproar arose. The tumult now no longer confined itself +to the forum, but spread everywhere through the entire city. The +nexi,[25] both those who were imprisoned, and those who were now at +liberty, hurried into the streets from all quarters and implored the +protection of the Quirites. Nowhere was there lack of volunteers to +join the disturbance. They ran in crowds through all the streets, from +all points, to the forum with loud shouts. Such of the senators as +happened to be in the forum fell in with this mob at great peril to +themselves; and it might not have refrained from actual violence +had not the consuls, Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius, hastily +interfered to quell the disturbance. The multitude, however, turning +toward them, and showing their chains and other marks of wretchedness, +said that they deserved all this,[26] mentioning, each of them, in +reproachful terms, the military services performed by himself, by +one in one place, by another in another. They called upon them with +menaces, rather than entreaties, to assemble the senate, and stood +round the senate-house in a body, determined themselves to be +witnesses and directors of the public resolves. Very few of the +senators, whom chance had thrown in the way, were got together by the +consuls; fear kept the rest away not only from the senate-house, but +even from the forum, and no business could be transacted owing to +their small attendance. Then indeed the people began to think they +were being tricked, and put off: and that such of the senators as +absented themselves did so not through accident or fear, but with the +express purpose of obstructing business: that the consuls themselves +were shuffling, that their miseries were without doubt held up to +ridicule. Matters had now almost come to such a pass that not even +the majesty of the consuls could restrain the violence of the people. +Wherefore, uncertain whether they would incur greater danger by +staying at home, or venturing abroad, they at length came into the +senate; but, though the house was now by this time full, not only were +the senators unable to agree, but even the consuls themselves. Appius, +a man of violent temperament, thought the matter ought to be settled +by the authority of the consuls, and that, if one or two were seized, +the rest would keep quiet. Servilius, more inclined to moderate +remedies, thought that, while their minds were in this state of +excitement, they could be bent with greater ease and safety than they +could be broken. + +Meanwhile an alarm of a more serious nature presented itself. Some +Latin horse came full speed to Rome, with the alarming news that the +Volscians were marching with a hostile army to besiege the city. +This announcement--so completely had discord split the state into +two--affected the senators and people in a far different manner. The +people exulted with joy, and said that the gods were coming to take +vengeance on the tyranny of the patricians. They encouraged one +another not to give in their names,[27] declaring that it was better +that all should perish together than that they should perish alone. +Let the patricians serve as soldiers; let the patricians take up arms, +so that those who reaped the advantages of war should also undergo its +dangers. But the senate, dejected and confounded by the double alarm +they felt, inspired both by their own countryman and by the enemy, +entreated the consul Servilius, whose disposition was more inclined to +favour the people, that he would extricate the commonwealth, beset as +it was with so great terrors. Then the consul, having dismissed the +senate, came forward into the assembly. There he declared that the +senate were solicitous that the interests of the people should be +consulted: but that alarm for the safety of the whole commonwealth had +interrupted their deliberation regarding that portion of the state, +which, though indeed the largest portion, was yet only a portion: nor +could they, seeing that the enemy were almost at the gates, allow +anything to take precedence of the war: nor, even though there should +be some respite, was it either to the credit of the people not to have +taken up arms in defence of their country unless they first received +pay, nor consistent with the dignity of the senators to have adopted +measures of relief for the distressed fortunes of their countrymen +through fear rather than afterward of their own free will. He then +further gave his speech the stamp of sincerity by an edict, by which +he ordained that no one should detain a Roman citizen either in chains +or in prison, so that he would thereby be deprived of the opportunity +of enrolling his name under the consuls, and that no one should either +take possession of or sell the goods of any soldier, while on service, +or detain his children or grandchildren in custody for debt. On +the publication of this edict, both the debtors who were present +immediately gave in their names, and crowds of persons, hastening from +all quarters of the city from private houses, as their creditors had +no right to detain their persons, ran together into the forum, to take +the military oath. These made up a considerable body of men, nor did +any others exhibit more conspicuous bravery or activity during the +Volscian war. The consul led out his forces against the enemy, and +pitched his camp at a little distance from them. + +The next night the Volscians, relying on the dissension among the +Romans, made an attempt on their camp, to see if there were any chance +of desertion or treachery during the night. The sentinels on guard +perceived them: the army was called up, and, the signals being given, +they ran to arms. Thus the attempt of the Volscians was frustrated; +the remainder of the night was given up to repose on both sides. The +next morning at daybreak the Volscians, having filled the trenches, +attacked the rampart. And already the fortifications were being +demolished on every side, when the consul, after having delayed a +little while for the purpose of testing the feelings of the soldiers, +although all from every quarter, and before all the debtors, were +crying out for him to give the signal, at length, when their great +eagerness became unmistakable, gave the signal for sallying forth, and +let out the soldiery impatient for the fight. At the very first onset +the enemy was routed; the fugitives were harassed in the rear, as far +as the infantry were able to follow them: the cavalry drove then in +consternation up to their camp. In a short time the legions having +been drawn around it, the camp itself was taken and plundered, since +panic had driven the Volscians even from thence also. On the next +day the legions were led to Suessa Pometia, whither the enemy had +retreated. In a few days the town was taken, and, after being taken, +was given up for plunder, whereby the needs of the soldiers were +somewhat relieved. The consul led back his victorious army to Rome +with the greatest renown to himself. On his departure for Rome, he was +met by the deputies of the Ecetrans, a tribe of the Volscians, who +were alarmed for the safety of their state after the capture of +Pometia. By a decree of the senate peace was granted them, but they +were deprived of their land. + +Immediately after this the Sabines also frightened the Romans: for it +was rather an alarm than a war. News was brought into the city during +the night that a Sabine army had advanced as far as the river Anio, +plundering the country: that the country houses there were being +pillaged and set fire to indiscriminately. Aulus Postumius, who had +been dictator in the Latin war, was immediately sent thither with all +the cavalry forces. The consul Servilius followed him with a picked +body of infantry. The cavalry cut off most of the stragglers; nor +did the Sabine legions make any resistance against the battalion of +infantry when it came up with them. Tired both by their march and +nightly raids, surfeited with eating and drinking in the country +houses, a great number of them had scarcely sufficient strength to +flee. Thus the Sabine war was heard of and finished in a single night. +On the following day, when all were sanguine that peace had been +secured in every quarter, ambassadors from the Auruncans presented +themselves before the senate, threatening to declare war unless the +troops were withdrawn from the Volscian territory. The army of the +Auruncans had set out from home at the same time as the ambassadors, +and the report that this army had been seen not far from Aricia threw +the Romans into such a state of confusion that neither could the +senate be consulted in regular form, nor could the Romans, while +themselves taking up arms, give a pacific answer to those who were +advancing to attack them. They marched to Aricia in hostile array, +engaged with the Auruncans not far from that town and in one battle +the war was ended. + +After the defeat of the Auruncans, the people of Rome, victorious in +so many wars within a few days, were looking to the consul to fulfill +his promises, and to the senate to keep their word, when Appius, both +from his natural pride, and in order to undermine the credit of his +colleague, issued a decree concerning borrowed money in the harshest +possible terms. From this time, both those who had been formerly in +confinement were delivered up to their creditors, and others also were +taken into custody. Whenever this happened to any soldier, he appealed +to the other consul. A crowd gathered about Servilius: they threw his +promises in his teeth, severally upbraiding him with their services in +war, and the scars they had received. They called upon him either +to lay the matter before the senate, or, as consul, to assist his +fellow-citizens, as commander, his soldiers. These remonstrances +affected the consul, but the situation of affairs obliged him to act +in a shuffling manner: so completely had not only his colleague, +but the whole of the patrician party, enthusiastically taken up the +opposite cause. And thus, by playing a middle part, he neither escaped +the odium of the people, nor gained the favour of the senators. +The patricians looked upon him as wanting in energy and a +popularity-hunting consul, the people, as deceitful: and it soon +became evident that he had become as unpopular as Appius himself. A +dispute had arisen between the consuls, as to which of them should +dedicate the Temple of Mercury. The senate referred the matter from +themselves to the people, and ordained that, to whichever of them the +task of dedication should be intrusted by order of the people, he +should preside over the markets, establish a guild of merchants,[28] +and perform the ceremonies in presence of the Pontifex Maximus. The +people intrusted the dedication of the temple to Marcus Laetorius, a +centurion of the firstrank, which, as would be clear to all, was done +not so muchout of respect to a person on whom an office above his rank +had been conferred, as to affront the consuls. Upon this one of the +consuls particularly, and the senators were highly incensed: however, +the people had gained fresh courage, and proceeded in quite a +different manner to what they had at first intended. For when they +despaired of redress from the consuls and senate, whenever they saw a +debtor led into court, they rushed together from all quarters. Neither +could the decree of the consul be heard distinctly for the noise and +shouting, nor, when he had pronounced the decree, did any one obey +it. Violence was the order of the day, and apprehension and danger in +regard to personal liberty was entirely transferred from the debtors +to the creditors, who were individually maltreated by the crowd before +the very eyes of the consul. In addition, the dread of the Sabine war +spread, and when a levy was decreed, nobody gave in his name: Appius +was enraged, and bitterly inveighed against the self-seeking conduct +of his colleague, in that he, by the inactivity he displayed to win +the favour of the people, was betraying the republic, and, besides not +having enforced justice in the matter of debt, likewise neglected +even to hold a levy, in obedience to the decree of the senate. Yet +he declared that the commonwealth was not entirely deserted, nor the +consular authority altogether degraded; that he, alone and unaided, +would vindicate both his own dignity and that of the senators. When +day by day the mob, emboldened by license, stood round him, he +commanded a noted ringleader of the seditious outbreaks to be +arrested. He, as he was being dragged off by the lictors, appealed +to the people; nor would the consul have allowed the appeal, because +there was no doubt regarding the decision of the people, had not his +obstinacy been with difficulty overcome, rather by the advice and +influence of the leading men, than by the clamours of the people; with +such a superabundance of courage was he endowed to support the weight +of public odium. The evil gained ground daily, not only by open +clamours, but, what was far more dangerous, by secession and by secret +conferences. At length the consuls, so odious to the commons, resigned +office, Servilius liked by neither party, Appius highly esteemed by +the senators. + +Then Aulus Verginius and Titus Vetusius entered on the consulship. +Upon this the commons, uncertain what sort of consuls they were likely +to have, held nightly meetings, some of them upon the Esquiline, and +others upon the Aventine, lest, when assembled in the forum, they +should be thrown into confusion by being obliged to adopt hasty +resolutions, and proceed inconsiderately and at hap-hazard. The +consuls, judging this proceeding to be of dangerous tendency, as it +really was, laid the matter before the senate. But, when it was laid +before them, they could not get them to consult upon it regularly; it +was received with an uproar on all sides, and by the indignant shouts +of the fathers, at the thought that the consuls threw on the senate +the odium for that which should have been carried out by consular +authority. Assuredly, if there were real magistrates in the republic, +there would have been no council at Rome but a public one. As it was, +the republic was divided and split into a thousand senate-houses and +assemblies, some meetings being held on the Esquiline, others on the +Aventine. One man, like Appius Claudius--for such a one was of more +value than a consul--would have dispersed those private meetings in a +moment. When the consuls, thus rebuked, asked them what it was that +they desired them to do, declaring that they would carry it out with +as much energy and vigour as the senators wished, the latter issued +a decree that they should push on the levy as briskly as possible +declaring that the people had become insolent from want of employment. +When the senate had been dismissed, the consuls assembled the tribunal +and summoned the younger men by name. When none of them answered to +his name, the people, crowding round after the manner of a general +assembly, declared that the people could no longer be imposed on: that +they should never enlist one single soldier unless the engagement made +publicly with the people were fulfilled: that liberty must be restored +to each before arms should be given, that so they might fight for +their country and fellow-citizens, and not for lords and masters. The +consuls understood the orders of the senate, but saw none of those who +talked so big within the walls of the senate-house present themselves +to share the odium they would incur. In fact, a desperate contest with +the commons seemed at hand. Therefore, before they had recourse to +extremities, they thought it advisable to consult the senate a second +time. Then indeed all the younger senators almost flew to the chairs +of the consuls, commanding them to resign the consulate, and lay aside +an office which they lacked the courage to support. + +Both plans having been sufficiently made proof of, the consuls at +length said: "Conscript fathers, that you may not say that you have +not been forewarned, know that a great disturbance is at hand. We +demand that those who accuse us most loudly of cowardice shall assist +us when holding the levy; we will proceed according to the resolution +of the most intrepid among you, since it so pleases you." Returning +to their tribunal, they purposely commanded one of the leaders of the +disturbance, who were in sight, to be summoned by name. When he stood +without saying a word, and a number of men stood round him in a ring, +to prevent violence being offered, the consuls sent a lictor to seize +him, but he was thrust back by the people. Then, indeed, those of +the fathers who attended the consuls, exclaiming against it as an +intolerable insult, hurried down from the tribunal to assist the +lictor. But when the violence of the people was turned from the +lictor, who had merely been prevented from arresting the man, against +the fathers, the riot was quelled by the interposition of consuls, +during which, however, without the use of stones or weapons, there was +more noise and angry words than actual injury inflicted. The senate, +summoned in a tumultuous manner was consulted in a manner still more +tumultuous, those who had been beaten demanding an inquiry, and the +most violent of them attempting to carry their point, not so much by +votes as by clamour and bustle. At length, when their passion had +subsided, and the consuls reproached them that there was no more +presence of mind in the senate than in the forum, the matter began to +be considered in order. Three different opinions were held. Publius +Verginius was against extending relief to all. He voted that they +should consider only those who, relying on the promise of Publius +Servilius the consul, had served in the war against the Volscians, +Auruncans, and Sabines. Titus Larcius was of opinion, that it was not +now a fitting time for services only to be rewarded: that all the +people were overwhelmed with debt, and that a stop could not be put to +the evil, unless measures were adopted for the benefit of all: nay, +further, if the condition of different parties were different discord +would thereby rather be inflamed than healed. Appius Claudius, being +naturally of a hard disposition, and further infuriated by the hatred +of the commons on the one hand, and the praises of the senators on the +other, insisted that such frequent riots were caused not by distress, +but by too much freedom: that the people were rather insolent than +violent: that this mischief, in fact, took its rise from the right of +appeal; since threats, not authority, was all that remained to the +consuls, while permission was given to appeal to those who were +accomplices in the crime. "Come," added he, "let us create a dictator +from whom there lies no appeal, and this madness, which has set +everything ablaze, will immediately subside. Then let me see the man +who will dare to strike a lictor, when he shall know that that person, +whose authority he has insulted, has sole and absolute power to flog +and behead him." + +To many the opinion of Appius appeared, as in fact it was, harsh and +severe. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius +appeared injurious, from the precedent they established: that of +Larcius they considered especially so, as one that would destroy all +credit. The advice of Verginius, was reckoned to be most moderate, and +a happy medium between the other two. But through party spirit and +men's regard for their private interest, which always has and always +will stand in the way of public councils, Appius prevailed, and was +himself near being created dictator--a step which would certainly +have alienated the commons at a most dangerous juncture, when the +Volscians, the Aequans, and the Sabines all happened to be in arms at +the same time. But the consuls and elders of the senate took care that +this command, in its own nature uncontrollable, should be intrusted +to a man of mild disposition. They elected Marcus Valerius son of +Volesus, dictator. The people, though they saw that this magistrate +was appointed against themselves, yet, as they possessed the right of +appeal by his brother's law, had nothing harsh or tyrannical to fear +from that family. Afterward an edict published by the dictator, which +was almost identical in terms with that of the consul Servilius, +further inspirited them. But, thinking reliance could be more safely +placed both in the man and in his authority,[29] they abandoned the +struggle and gave in their names. Ten legions were raised, a larger +army than had ever been raised before.[30] Of these, each of the +consuls had three legions assigned him; the dictator commanded four. + +The war could not now be any longer deferred. The Aequans had invaded +the territory of the Latins: the deputies of the latter begged the +senate either to send them assistance, or to allow them to arm +themselves for the purpose of defending their own frontiers. It seemed +safer that the Latins should be defended without their being armed, +than to allow them to handle arms again. Vetusius the consul was sent +to their assistance: thereby a stop was put to the raids. The Aequans +retired from the plains, and depending more on the advantages of +position than on their arms, secured themselves on the heights of the +mountains. The other consul, having set out against the Volscians, +lest he in like manner might waste time,[31] provoked the enemy to +pitch their camp nearer, and to risk a regular engagement, by ravaging +their lands. Both armies stood ready to advance, in front of their +lines, in hostile array, in a plain between the two camps. The +Volscians had considerably the advantage in numbers: accordingly, they +entered into battle in loose order, and in a spirit of contempt. The +Roman consul neither advanced his forces, nor allowed the enemy's +shouts to be returned, but ordered his men to stand with their spears +fixed in the ground, and whenever the enemy came to a hand-to-hand +encounter, to draw their swords, and attacking them with all their +force, to carry on the fight. The Volscians, wearied with running and +shouting attacked the Romans, who appeared to them paralyzed with +fear; but when they perceived the vigorous resistance that was made, +and saw the swords glittering before their eyes, just as if they had +fallen into an ambuscade, they turned and fled in confusion. Nor had +they sufficient strength even to flee as they had entered into action +at full speed. The Romans, on the other hand, as they had quietly +stood their ground at the beginning of the action, with physical +vigour unimpaired, easily overtook the weary foe, took their camp by +assault, and, having driven them from it, pursued them to Velitrae, +[32] into which city conquered and conquerors together rushed in one +body. By the promiscuous slaughter of all ranks, which there ensued, +more blood was shed than in the battle itself. Quarter was given to a +few, who threw down their arms and surrendered. + +While these operations were going on among the Volscians, the dictator +routed the Sabines, among whom by far the most important operations +of the war were carried on, put them to flight, and stripped them of +their camp. By a charge of cavalry he had thrown the centre of the +enemy's line into confusion, in the part where, owing to the wings +being extended too widely, they had not properly strengthened their +line with companies in the centre. The infantry fell upon them in +their confusion: by one and the same charge the camp was taken and the +war concluded. There was no other battle in those times more memorable +than this since the action at the Lake Regillus. The dictator rode +into the city in triumph. Besides the usual honours, a place in the +circus was assigned to him and his descendants, to see the public +games: a curule chair.[33] was fixed in that place. The territory of +Velitrae was taken from the conquered Volscians: colonists were sent +from Rome to Velitrae, and a colony led out thither. Some considerable +time afterward an engagement with the Aequans took place, but against +the wish of the consul, because they had to approach the enemy on +unfavourable ground: the soldiers, however, complaining that the +affair was being purposely protracted, in order that the dictator +might resign his office before they themselves returned to the city, +and so his promises might come to nothing, like those of the consul +before, forced him at all hazards to march his army up the hills. +This imprudent step, through the cowardice of the enemy, turned out +successful: for, before the Romans came within range, the Aequans, +amazed at their boldness, abandoned their camp, which they had pitched +in a very strong position, and ran down into the valleys that lay +behind them. There abundant plunder was found: the victory was a +bloodless one. While military operations had thus proved successful +in three quarters, neither senators nor people had dismissed their +anxiety in regard to the issue of domestic questions. With such +powerful influence and such skill had the usurers made arrangements, +so as to disappoint not only the people, but even the dictator +himself. For Valerius, after the return of the consul Vetusius, of all +the measures brought before the senate, made that on behalf of the +victorious people the first, and put the question, what it was their +pleasure should be done with respect to the debtors. And when his +report was disallowed, he said: "As a supporter of reconciliation, I +am not approved of. You will ere long wish, depend on it, that the +commons of Rome had supporters like myself. For my part, I will +neither further disappoint my Fellow-citizens, nor will I be dictator +to no purpose. Intestine dissensions and foreign wars have caused the +republic to stand in need of such a magistrate. Peace has been secured +abroad, it is impeded at home. I will be a witness to the disturbance +as a private citizen rather than as dictator." Accordingly, quitting +the senate-house, he resigned his dictatorship. The reason was clear +to the people: that he had resigned his office from indignation at +their treatment. Accordingly, as if his promise had been fully kept, +since it had not been his fault that his word had not been made +good, they escorted him on his return home with favouring shouts of +acclamation. + +Fear then seized the senators lest, if the army was disbanded, secret +meetings and conspiracies would be renewed; accordingly, although the +levy had been held by the dictator, yet, supposing that, as they had +sworn obedience to the consuls, the soldiers were bound by their oath, +they ordered the legions to be led out of the city, under the pretext +of hostilities having been renewed by the Aequans. By this course of +action the sedition was accelerated. And indeed it is said that it was +at first contemplated to put the consuls to death, that the legions +might be discharged from their oath: but that, being afterward +informed that no religious obligation could be rendered void by a +criminal act, they, by the advice of one Sicinius, retired, without +the orders of the consuls, to the Sacred Mount,[34] beyond the river +Anio, three miles from the city: this account is more commonly adopted +than that which Piso[35] has given, that the secession was made to the +Aventine. There, without any leader, their camp being fortified with +a rampart and trench, remaining quiet, taking nothing but what was +necessary for subsistence, they remained for several days, neither +molested nor molesting. Great was the panic in the city, and through +mutual fear all was in suspense. The people, left by their fellows in +the city, dreaded the violence of the senators: the senators dreaded +the people who remained in the city, not feeling sure whether they +preferred them to stay or depart. On the other hand, how long would +the multitude which had seceded, remain quiet? What would be the +consequences hereafter, if, in the meantime, any foreign war should +break out? They certainly considered there was no hope left, save in +the concord of the citizens: that this must be restored to the state +at any price. Under these circumstances it was resolved that Agrippa +Menenius, an eloquent man, and a favourite with the people, because +he was sprung from them, should be sent to negotiate with them. Being +admitted into the camp, he is said to have simply related to them the +following story in an old-fashioned and unpolished style: "At the time +when the parts of the human body did not, as now, all agree together, +but the several members had each their own counsel, and their own +language, the other parts were indignant that, while everything was +provided for the gratification of the belly by their labour and +service, the belly, resting calmly in their midst, did nothing but +enjoy the pleasures afforded it. They accordingly entered into a +conspiracy, that neither should the hands convey food to the mouth, +nor the mouth receive it when presented, nor the teeth have anything +to chew: while desiring, under the influence of this indignation, to +starve out the belly, the individual members themselves and the entire +body were reduced to the last degree of emaciation. Thence it became +apparent that the office of the belly as well was no idle one, that it +did not receive more nourishment than it supplied, sending, as it did, +to all parts of the body that blood from which we derive life and +vigour, distributed equally through the veins when perfected by the +digestion of the food." [36] By drawing a comparison from this, how +like was the internal sedition of the body to the resentment of the +people against the senators, he succeeded in persuading the minds of +the multitude. + +Then the question of reconciliation began to be discussed, and a +compromise was effected on certain conditions: that the commons should +have magistrates of their own, whose persons should be inviolable, who +should have the power of rendering assistance against the consuls, +and that no patrician should be permitted to hold that office. +Accordingly, two tribunes of the commons were created, Gaius Licinius +and Lucius Albinus. These created three colleagues for themselves. +It is clear that among these was Sicinius, the ring-leader of the +sedition; with respect to the other two, there is less agreement who +they were. There are some who say that only two tribunes were elected +on the Sacred Mount and that there the lex sacrata [37] was passed. + +During the secession of the commons, Spurius Cassius and Postumus +Cominius entered on the consulship. During their consulate, a treaty +was concluded with the Latin states. To ratify this, one of the +consuls remained at Rome: the other, who was sent to take command +in the Volscian war, routed and put to flight the Volscians of +Antium,[38] and pursuing them till they had been driven into the town +of Longula, took possession of the walls. Next he took Polusca, also +a city of the Volscians: he then attacked Corioli [39] with great +violence. There was at that time in the camp, among the young nobles, +Gnaeus Marcius, a youth distinguished both for intelligence and +courage, who was afterward surnamed Coriolanus. While the Roman army +was besieging Corioli, devoting all its attention to the townspeople, +who were kept, shut up within the walls, and there was no apprehension +of attack threatening from without, the Volscian legions, setting out +from Antium, suddenly attacked them, and the enemy sallied forth at +the same time from the town. Marcius at that time happened to be on +guard. He, with a chosen body of men, not only beat back the attack +of those who had sallied forth, but boldly rushed in through the +open gate, and, having cut down all who were in the part of the city +nearest to it, and hastily seized some blazing torches, threw them +into the houses adjoining the wall. Upon this, the shouts of the +townsmen, mingled with the wailings of the women and children +occasioned at first by fright, as is usually the case, both increased +the courage of the Romans, and naturally dispirited the Volscians +who had come to bring help, seeing that the city was taken. Thus the +Volscians of Antium were defeated, and the town of Corioli was taken. +And so much did Marcius by his valour eclipse the reputation of the +consul, that, had not the treaty concluded with the Latins by Spurius +Cassius alone, in consequence of the absence of his colleagues, and +which was engraved on a brazen column, served as a memorial of it, it +would have been forgotten that Postumus Cominius had conducted the war +with the Volscians. In the same year died Agrippa Menenius, a man all +his life equally a favourite with senators and commons, endeared still +more to the commons after the secession. This man, the mediator and +impartial promoter of harmony among his countrymen, the ambassador of +the senators to the commons, the man who brought back the commons to +the city, did not leave enough to bury him publicly. The people buried +him by the contribution of a sextans [40] per man. + +Titus Geganius and Publius Minucius were next elected consuls. In +this year, when abroad there was complete rest from war, and at home +dissensions were healed, another far more serious evil fell upon the +state: first, dearness of provisions, a consequence of the lands lying +untilled owing to the secession of the commons; then a famine, such as +attacks those who are besieged. And matters would certainly have ended +in the destruction of the slaves and commons, had not the consuls +adopted precautionary measures, by sending persons in every direction +to buy up corn, not only into Etruria on the coast to the right of +Ostia, and through the territory of the Volscians along the coast on +the left as far as Cumae, but into Sicily also, in quest of it. To +such an extent had the hatred of their neighbours obliged them to +stand in need of assistance from distant countries. When corn had +been bought up at Cumae, the ships were detained as security for the +property of the Tarquinians by the tyrant Aristodemus, who was their +heir. Among the Volscians and in the Pomptine territory it could not +even be purchased. The corn dealers themselves incurred danger from +the violence of the inhabitants. Corn was brought from Etruria by way +of the Tiber: by means of this the people were supported. In such +straitened resources they would have been harassed by a most +inopportune war, had not a dreadful pestilence attacked the Volscians +when on the point of beginning hostilities. The minds of the enemy +being so terrified by this calamity, that they felt a certain alarm, +even after it had abated the Romans both augmented the number of their +colonists at Velitrae, and despatched a new colony to the mountains Of +Norba [41] to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine district. Then +in the consulship of Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempronius a great +quantity of corn was imported from Sicily and it was debated in the +senate at what price it should be offered to the commons. Many were +of opinion that the time was come for crushing the commons, and +recovering those rights which had been wrested from the senators by +secession and violence. In particular, Marcius Coriolanus, an enemy to +tribunician power, said: "If they desire corn at its old price, let +them restore to the senators their former rights. Why do I, like a +captive sent under the yoke, as if I had been ransomed from robbers, +behold plebeian magistrates, and Sicinius invested with power? Am I to +submit to these indignities longer than is necessary? Am I, who have +refused to endure Tarquin as king, to tolerate Sicinius? Let him now +secede, let him call away the commons. The road lies open to the +Sacred Mount and to other hills. Let them carry off the corn from our +lands, as they did three years since. Let them have the benefit +of that scarcity which in their mad folly they have themselves +occasioned. I venture to say, that, overcome by these sufferings, they +will themselves become tillers of the lands, rather than, taking up +arms, and seceding, prevent them from being tilled." It is not so easy +to say whether it should have been done, but I think that it might +have been practicable for the senators, on the condition of lowering +the price of provisions, to have rid themselves of both the +tribunician power, and all the regulations imposed on them against +their will. + +This proposal both appeared to the senate too harsh and from +exasperation well-nigh drove the people to arms: they complained that +they were now being attacked with famine, as if they were enemies, +that they were being robbed of food and sustenance, that the corn +brought from foreign countries, the only support with which fortune +had unexpectedly furnished them, was being snatched from their mouth, +unless the tribunes were delivered in chains to Gnaeus Marcius, unless +satisfaction were exacted from the backs of the commons of Rome. That +in him a new executioner had arisen, one to bid them either die or +be slaves. He would have been attacked as he was leaving the +senate-house, had not the tribunes very opportunely appointed him a +day for trial: thereupon their rage was suppressed, every one saw +himself become the judge, the arbiter of the life and death of his +foe. At first Marcius listened to the threats of the tribunes with +contempt, saying that it was the right of affording aid, not of +inflicting punishment that had been conferred upon that office: that +they were tribunes of the commons and not of the senators. But the +commons had risen with such violent determination, that the senators +felt themselves obliged to sacrifice one man to arrive at a +settlement. They resisted, however, in spite of opposing odium, and +exerted, collectively, the powers of the whole order, as well as, +individually, each his own. At first, an attempt was made to see if, +by posting their clients [42] in several places, they could quash the +whole affair, by deterring individuals from attending meetings and +cabals. Then they all proceeded in a body--one would have said that +all the senators were on their trial--earnestly entreating the commons +that, if they would not acquit an innocent man, they would at least +for their sake pardon, assuming him guilty, one citizen, one senator. +As he did not attend in person on the day appointed, they persisted in +their resentment. He was condemned in his absence, and went into exile +among the Volscians, threatening his country, and even then cherishing +all the resentment of an enemy.[43] The Volscians received him kindly +on his arrival, and treated him still more kindly every day, in +proportion as his resentful feelings toward his countrymen became more +marked, and at one time frequent complaints, at another threats, were +heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of Attius Tullius, who was at that +time by far the chief man of the Volscian people, and had always been +a determined enemy of the Romans. Thus, while long-standing animosity +stimulated the one and recent resentment the other, they concerted +schemes for bringing about a war with Rome. They did not readily +believe that their own people could be persuaded to take up arms, so +often unsuccessfully tried, seeing that by many frequent wars, and +lastly, by the loss of their youth in the pestilence, their spirits +were now broken; they felt that in a case where animosity had now died +away from length of time they must proceed by scheming, that their +feelings might become exasperated under the influence of some fresh +cause for resentment. + +It happened that preparations were being made at Rome for a renewal of +the great games.[44] The cause of this renewal was as follows: On the +day of the games, in the morning when the show had not yet begun, a +certain head of a family had driven a slave of his through the middle +of the circus while he was being flogged, tied to the fork:[45] after +this the games had been begun, as if the matter had nothing to do with +any religious difficulty. Soon afterward Titus Latinius, a plebeian, +had a dream, in which Jupiter appeared to him and said that the person +who danced before the games had displeased him; unless those games +were renewed on a splendid scale, danger would threaten the city: +let him go and announce this to the consuls. Though his mind was not +altogether free from religious awe, his reverence for the dignity of +the magistrates, lest he might become a subject for ridicule in the +mouths of all, overcame his religious fear. This delay cost him dear, +for he lost his son within a few days; and, that there might be no +doubt about the cause of this sudden calamity, the same vision, +presenting itself to him in the midst of his sorrow of heart, seemed +to ask him, whether he had been sufficiently requited for his contempt +of the deity; that a still heavier penalty threatened him, unless he +went immediately and delivered the message to the consuls. The matter +was now still more urgent. While, however, he still delayed and kept +putting it off, he was attacked by a severe stroke of disease, a +sudden paralysis. Then indeed the anger of the gods frightened him. +Wearied out therefore by his past sufferings and by those that +threatened him, he convened a meeting of his friends and relatives, +and, after he had detailed to them all he had seen and heard, and the +fact of Jupiter having so often presented himself to him in his sleep, +and the threats and anger of Heaven speedily fulfilled in his own +calamities, he was, with the unhesitating assent of all who were +present, conveyed in a litter into the forum to the presence of the +consuls. From the forum, by order of the consuls, he was carried into +the senate-house, and, after he had recounted the same story to the +senators, to the great surprise of all, behold another miracle: he who +had been carried into the senate-house deprived of the use of all his +limbs, is reported to have returned home on his own feet, after he had +discharged his duty. + +The senate decreed that the games should be celebrated on as +magnificent a scale as possible. To those games a great number of +Volscians came at the suggestion of Attius Tullius. Before the games +had commenced, Tullius, as had been arranged privately with Marcius, +approached the consuls, and said that there were certain matters +concerning the common-wealth about which he wished to treat with them +in private. When all witnesses had been ordered to retire, he said: +"I am reluctant to say anything of my countrymen that may seem +disparaging. I do not, however, come to accuse them of any crime +actually committed by them, but to see to it that they do not commit +one. The minds of our people are far more fickle than I could wish. +We have learned that by many disasters; seeing that we are still +preserved, not through our own merits, but thanks to your forbearance. +There is now here a great multitude of Volscians; the games are going +on: the city will be intent on the exhibition. I remember what was +done in this city on a similar occasion by the youth of the Sabines. +My mind shudders at the thought that anything should be done +inconsiderately and rashly. I have deemed it right that these matters +should be mentioned beforehand to you, consuls, both for your sakes +and ours. With regard to myself, it is my determination to depart +hence home immediately, that I may not be tainted with the suspicion +of any word or deed if I remain." Having said this, he departed. When +the consuls had laid the matter before the senate, a matter that was +doubtful, though vouched for by a thoroughly reliable authority, the +authority, more than the matter itself, as usually happens, urged them +to adopt even needless precautions; and a decree of the senate having +been passed that the Volscians should quit the city, criers were sent +in different directions to order them all to depart before night. +They were at first smitten with great panic, as they ran in different +directions to their lodgings to carry away their effects. Afterward, +when setting out, indignation arose in their breasts, to think that +they, as if polluted with crime and contaminated, had been driven away +from the games on festival days, a meeting, so to speak, both of gods +and men. + +As they went along in an almost unbroken line, Tullius, who had +preceded them to the fountain of Ferentina, [46]received the chief +men, as each arrived, and, complaining and giving vent to expressions +of indignation, led both those, who eagerly listened to language that +favoured their resentment, and through them the rest of the multitude, +into a plain adjoining the road. There, having begun an address after +the manner of a public harangue, he said: "Though you were to forget +the former wrongs inflicted upon you by the Roman people, the +calamities of the nation of the Volscians, and all other such matters, +with what feelings, pray, do you regard this outrage offered you +to-day, whereby they have opened the games by insulting us? Did you +not feel that a triumph has been gained over you this day? That you, +when leaving, were the observed of all, citizens, foreigners, and so +many neighbouring states? That your wives, your children were led in +mockery before the eyes of men? What do you suppose were the feelings +of those who heard the voice of the crier? what of those who saw us +departing? What of those who met this ignominious cavalcade? What, +except that it is assuredly a matter of some offence against the gods: +and that, because, if we were present at the show, we should profane +the games, and be guilty of an act that would need expiation, for this +reason we are driven away from the dwellings of these pious people, +from their meeting and assembly? What then? Does it not occur to you +that we still live, because we have hastened our departure?--if indeed +this is a departure and not rather a flight. And do you not consider +this to be the city of enemies, in which, if you had delayed a single +day, you must all have died? War has been declared against you, to the +great injury of those who declared it, if you be men." Thus, being +both on their own account filled with resentment, and further incited +by this harangue, they severally departed to their homes, and by +stirring up each his own state, succeeded in bringing about the revolt +of the entire Volscian nation. + +The generals selected to take command in that war by theunanimous +choice of all the states were Attius Tullius and Gnaeus Marcius, an +exile from Rome, in the latter of whom far greater hopes were reposed. +These hopes he by no means disappointed, so that it was clearly seen +that the Roman commonwealth was powerful by reason of its generals +rather than its military force. Having marched to Circeii, he first +expelled from thence the Roman colonists, and handed over that city in +a state of freedom to the Volscians. From thence passing across the +country through by-roads into the Latin way, he deprived the Romans +of the following recently acquired towns, Satricum, Longula, Polusca, +Corioli. He next himself master of Lavinium, and then took in +succession Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Labici, and Pedum.[47] + +Lastly he marched from Pedum toward Rome, and having pitched his camp +at the Cluilian trenches five miles from the city, he openly ravaged +the Roman territory, guards being sent among the devastators to +preserve the lands of the patricians uninjured, whether it was that he +was chiefly incensed against the plebeians, or whether his object was +that dissension might arise between the senators and the people. And +it certainly would have arisen--so powerfully did the tribunes, by +inveighing against the leading men of the state, incite the plebeians, +already exasperated in themselves--had not apprehension of danger +from abroad, the strongest bond of union, united their minds, though +distrustful and mutually hostile. The only matter in which they were +not agreed was this: that, while the senate and consuls rested their +hopes on nothing else but arms, the plebeians preferred anything to +war. Spurius Nautius and Sextus Furius were now consuls. While they +were reviewing the legions, posting guards along the walls and other +places where they had determined that there should be outposts and +watches, a vast multitude of persons demanding peace terrified them +first by their seditious clamouring, and then compelled them to +convene the senate, to consider the question of sending ambassadors to +Gnaeus Marcius. The senate approved the proposal, when it was evident +that the spirits of the plebeians were giving way, ambassadors, sent +to Marcius to treat concerning peace, brought back the haughty answer: +If their lands were restored to the Volscians, the question of peace +might then be considered; if they were minded to enjoy the plunder of +war at their ease, he, remembering both the injurious treatment of his +countrymen, as well as the kindness of strangers, would do his utmost +to make it appear that his spirit was irritated by exile, not crushed. +The same envoys, being sent a second time, were not admitted into the +camp. It is recorded that the priests also, arrayed in the vestments +of their office, went as suppliants to the enemy's camp, but that they +did not influence his mind any more than the ambassadors. + +Then the matrons assembled in a body around Veturia, the mother of +Coriolanus, and his wife, Volumnia: whether that was the result of +public counsel, or of women's fear, I can not clearly ascertain. +Anyhow, they succeeded in inducing Veturia, a woman advanced in years, +and Volumnia with her two sons by Marcius, to go into the camp of the +enemy, and in prevailing upon women to defend the city by entreaties +and tears, since men were unable to defend it by arms. When they +reached the camp, and it was announced to Coriolanus that a great +crowd of women was approaching, he, as one who had been affected +neither by the public majesty of the state, as represented by its +ambassadors, nor by the sanctity of religion so strikingly spread +before his eyes and understanding in the person of its priests, was +at first much more obdurate against women's tears. Then one of his +acquaintances, who had recognised Veturia, distinguished beyond +all the rest by her sorrowful mien, standing in the midst with her +daughter-in-law and grandchildren, said, "Unless my eyes deceive +me, your mother, and wife and children, are at hand." Coriolanus, +bewildered, almost like one who had lost his reason, rushed from his +seat, and offered to embrace his mother as she met him; but she, +turning from entreaties to wrath, said: "Before I permit your embrace, +let me know whether I have come to an enemy or to a son, whether I am +in your camp a captive or a mother? Has length of life and a hapless +old age reserved me for this--to behold you first an exile, then an +enemy? Have you had the heart to lay waste this land, which gave +you birth and nurtured you? Though you had come in an incensed and +vengeful spirit, did not your resentment abate when you entered its +borders? When Rome came within view, did not the thought enter your +mind--within those walls are my house and household gods, my mother, +wife, and children? So then, had I not been a mother, Rome would not +now be besieged: had I not a son, I might have died free in a free +country. But I can now suffer nothing that will not bring more +disgrace on you than misery on me; nor, most wretched as I am, shall +I be so for long. Look to these, whom, if you persist, either an +untimely death or lengthened slavery awaits." Then his wife and +children embraced him: and the lamentation proceeding from the entire +crowd of women and their bemoaning their own lot and their country's, +at length overcame the man. Then, having embraced his family, he sent +them away; he himself withdrew his camp from the city. After he had +drawn off his troops from Roman territory, they say that he died +overwhelmed by the hatred excited against him on account of this act; +different writers give different accounts of his death: I find in +Fabius,[48] far the most ancient authority, that he lived to an +advanced age: at any rate, this writer states, that in his old age he +often made use of the expression, "that exile was far more miserable +to the aged." The men of Rome were not grudging in the award of their +due praise to the women, so truly did they live without disparaging +the merit of others: a temple was built, and dedicated to female +Fortune, to serve also as a record of the event. + +The Volscians afterward returned, having been joined by the Aequans, +into Roman territory: the latter, however, would no longer have Attius +Tullius as their leader; hence from a dispute, whether the Volscians +or the Aequans should give the general to the allied army, a quarrel, +and afterward a furious battle, broke out. Therein the good fortune of +the Roman people destroyed the two armies of the enemy, by a contest +no less ruinous than obstinate. Titus Sicinius and Gaius Aquilius were +made consuls. The Volscians fell to Sicinius as his province; the +Hernicans--for they, too, were in arms--to Aquilius. That year the +Hernicans were completely defeated; they met and parted with the +Volscians without any advantage being gained on either side. + +Spurius Cassius and Proculus Verginius were next made consuls; a +treaty was concluded with the Hernicans; two thirds of their land were +taken from them: of this the consul Cassius proposed to distribute +one half among the Latins, the other half among the commons. To this +donation he desired to add a considerable portion of land, which, +though public property, [49] he alleged was possessed by private +individuals. This proceeding alarmed several of the senators, the +actual possessors, at the danger that threatened their property; the +senators moreover felt anxiety on public grounds, fearing that the +consul by his donation was establishing an influence dangerous to +liberty. Then, for the first time, an agrarian law was proposed, which +from that time down to the memory of our own days has never been +discussed without the greatest civil disturbances. The other consul +opposed the donation, supported by the senators, nor, indeed, were all +the commons opposed to him: they had at first begun to feel disgust +that this gift had been extended from the citizens to the allies, and +thus rendered common: in the next place they frequently heard the +consul Verginius in the assemblies as it were prophesying, that the +gift of his colleague was pestilential: that those lands were sure to +bring slavery to those who received them: that the way was being paved +to a throne. Else why were it that the allies were thus included, and +the Latin nation? What was the object of a third of the land that had +been taken being restored to the Hernicans, so lately their enemies, +except that those nations might have Cassius for their leader instead +of Coriolanus? The dissuader and opposer of the agrarian law now began +to be popular. Both consuls then vied with each other in humouring the +commons. Verginius said that he would suffer the lands to be assigned, +provided they were assigned to no one but a Roman citizen. Cassius, +because in the agrarian donation he sought popularity among the +allies, and was therefore lowered in the estimation of his countrymen, +commanded, in order that by another gift he might win the affections +of the citizens, that the money received for the Sicilian corn should +be refunded to the people. That, however, the people spurned as +nothing else than a ready money bribe for regal authority: so +uncompromisingly were his gifts rejected, as if there was abundance of +everything, in consequence of their inveterate suspicion that he was +aiming at sovereign power. As soon as he went out of office, it is +certain that he was condemned and put to death. There are some +who represent that his father was the person who carried out the +punishment: that he, having tried the case at home, scourged him and +put him to death, and consecrated his son's private property to Ceres; +that out of this a statue was set up and inscribed, "Presented out of +the property of the Cassian family." In some authors I find it stated, +which is more probable, that a day was assigned him to stand his +trial for high treason, by the quaestors,[50] Caeso Fabius and Lucius +Valerius, and that he was condemned by the decision of the people; +that his house was demolished by a public decree: this is the spot +where there is now an open space before the Temple of Tellus.[51] +However, whether the trial was held in private or public, he was +condemned in the consulship of Servius Cornelius and Quintus Fabius. + +The resentment of the people against Cassius was not lasting. The +charm of the agrarian law, now that its proposer was removed, of +itself entered their minds: and their desire of it was further kindled +by the meanness of the senators, who, after the Volscians and AEquans +had been completely defeated in that year, defrauded the soldiers of +their share of the booty; whatever was taken from the enemy, was sold +by the consul Fabius, and the proceeds lodged in the public treasury. +All who bore the name of Fabius became odious to the commons on +account of the last consul: the patricians, however, succeeded in +getting Caeso Fabius elected consul with Lucius AEmilius. The commons, +still further aggravated at this, provoked war abroad by exciting +disturbance at home;[52] in consequence of the war civil dissensions +were then discontinued. Patricians and commons uniting, under the +command of AEmilius, overcame the Volscians and AEquans, who renewed +hostilities, in a successful engagement. The retreat, however, +destroyed more of the enemy than the battle; so perseveringly did the +cavalry pursue them when routed. During the same year, on the ides of +July,[53]the Temple of Castor was dedicated: it had been vowed during +the Latin war in the dictatorship of Postumius: his son, who was +elected duumvir for that special purpose, dedicated it. + +In that year, also, the minds of the people were excited by the +allurements of the agrarian law. The tribunes of the people +endeavoured to enhance their authority, in itself agreeable to the +people, by promoting a popular law. The patricians, considering that +there was enough and more than enough frenzy in the multitude without +any additional incitement, viewed with horror largesses and all +inducements to ill-considered action: the patricians found in the +consuls most energetic abettors in resistance. That portion of the +commonwealth therefore prevailed; and not for the moment only, but for +the coming year also they succeeded in securing the election of Marcus +Fabius, Caeso's brother, as consul, and one still more detested by the +commons for his persecution of Cassius--namely, Lucius Valerius. +In that year also was a contest with the tribunes. The law came to +nothing, and the supporters of the law proved to be mere boasters, by +their frequent promises of a gift that was never granted. The Fabian +name was thenceforward held in high repute, after three successive +consulates, and all as it were uniformly tested in contending with the +tribunes; accordingly, the honour remained for a considerable time +in that family, as being right well placed. A war with Veii was then +begun: the Volscians also renewed hostilities; but, while their +strength was almost more than sufficient for foreign wars, they +only abused it by contending among themselves. In addition to the +distracted state of the public mind prodigies from heaven increased +the general alarm, exhibiting almost daily threats in the city and in +the country, and the soothsayers, being consulted by the state and by +private individuals, declared, at one time by means of entrails, at +another by birds, that there was no other cause for the deity having +been roused to anger, save that the ceremonies of religion were not +duly performed. These terrors, however, terminated in this, that +Oppia, a vestal virgin, being found guilty of a breach of chastity, +suffered punishment. [54] Quintus Fabius and Gaius Julius were next +elected consuls. During this year the dissension at home was not +abated, while the war abroad was more desperate. The AEquans took up +arms: the Veientines also invaded and plundered the Roman territory: +as the anxiety about these wars increased, Caeso Fabius and Spurius +Furius were appointed consuls. The AEquans were laying siege to Ortona, +a Latin city. The Veientines, now sated with plunder, threatened to +besiege Rome itself. These terrors, which ought to have assuaged the +feelings of the commons, increased them still further: and the people +resumed the practice of declining military service, not of their own +accord, as before, but Spurius Licinius, a tribune of the people, +thinking that the time had come for forcing the agrarian law on +the patricians by extreme necessity, had undertaken the task of +obstructing the military preparations. However, all the odium against +the tribunician power was directed against the author of this +proceeding: and even his own colleagues rose up against him as +vigorously as the consuls; and by their assistance the consuls held +the levy. An army was raised for the two wars simultaneously; one was +intrusted to Fabius to be led against the Veientines, the other to +Furius to operate against the AEquans. In regard to the latter, indeed, +nothing took place worthy of mention. Fabius had considerably more +trouble with his countrymen than with the enemy: that one man alone, +as consul, sustained the commonwealth, which the army was doing its +best to betray, as far as in it lay, from hatred of the consul. For +when the consul, in addition to his other military talents, of which +he had exhibited abundant instances in his preparations for and in his +conduct of war, had so drawn up his line that he routed the enemy's +army solely by a charge of his cavalry, the infantry refused to pursue +them when routed; nor, although the exhortation of their general, whom +they hated, had no effect upon them, could even their own infamy, and +the immediate public disgrace and subsequent danger likely to arise, +if the enemy recovered their courage, induce them to quicken their +pace, or even, if nothing else, to stand in order of battle. Without +orders they faced about, and with a sorrowful air (one would have +thought them defeated) they returned to camp, execrating at one time +their general, at another the vigour displayed by the cavalry. Nor +did the general know where to look for any remedies for so harmful a +precedent: so true is it that the most distinguished talents will be +more likely found deficient in the art of managing a countryman, than +in that of conquering an enemy. The consul returned to Rome, not +having so much increased his military glory as irritated and +exasperated the hatred of his soldiers toward him. The patricians, +however, succeeded in keeping the consulship in the Fabian family. +They elected Marcus Fabius consul; Gnaeus Manlius was assigned as a +colleague to Fabius. + +This year also found a tribune to support an agrarian law. This was +Tiberius Pontificius, who, pursuing the same tactics, as if it had +succeeded in the case of Spurius Licinius, obstructed the levy for a +little time. The patricians being once more perplexed, Appius Claudius +declared that the tribunician power had been put down the year +before, for the moment by the fact, for the future by the precedent +established, since it was found that it could be rendered ineffective +by its own strength; for that there never would be wanting a tribune +who would both be willing to obtain a victory for himself over his +colleague, and the good-will of the better party to on advancement of +the public weal: that more tribunes than one, if there were need of +more than one, would be ready to assist the consuls: and that in fact +one would be sufficient even against all.[55] Only let the consuls and +leading members of the senate take care to win over, if not all, at +least some of the tribunes, to the side of the commonwealth and the +senate. The senators, instructed by the counsels of Appius, both +collectively addressed the tribunes with kindness and courtesy, and +the men of consular rank, according as each possessed private personal +influence over them individually, and, partly by conciliation, partly +by authority, prevailed so far as to make them consent that the powers +of the tribunician office should be beneficial to the state; and by +the aid of four tribunes against one obstructor of the public good, +the consuls carried out the levy. They then set out to the war against +Veii, to which auxiliaries had assembled from all parts of Etruria, +not so much influenced by feelings of regard for the Veientines, +as because they had formed a hope that the power of Rome could be +destroyed by internal discord. And in the general councils of all the +states of Etruria the leading men murmured that the power of Rome +would last forever, unless they were distracted by disturbances among +themselves: that this was the only poison, this the bane discovered +for powerful states, to render mighty empires mortal: that this evil, +a long time checked, partly by the wise measures of the patricians, +partly by the forbearance of the commons, had now proceeded to +extremities: that two states were now formed out of one: that each +party had its own magistrates, its own laws: that, although at first +they were accustomed to be turbulent during the levies, still these +same individuals had notwithstanding ever been obedient to their +commanders during war: that as long as military discipline was +retained, no matter what might be the state of the city, the evil +might have been withstood: but that now the custom of not obeying +their officers followed the Roman soldier even to the camp: that in +the last war, even in a regular engagement and in the very heat of +battle, by consent of the army the victory had been voluntarily +surrendered to the vanquished Aequans: that the standards had been +deserted, the general abandoned on the field, and that the army had +returned to camp without orders: without doubt, if they persevered, +Rome might be conquered by means of her own soldiery: nothing else was +necessary save a declaration and show of war: the fates and the +gods would of themselves manage the rest. These hopes had armed the +Etruscans, who by many changes of fortune had been vanquished and +victors in turn. + +The Roman consuls also dreaded nothing else but their own strength and +their own arms. The recollection of the most mischievous precedent set +in the last war was a terrible warning to them not to let matters +go so far that they would have two armies to fear at the same time. +Accordingly, they kept within their camp, avoiding battle, owing to +the two-fold danger that threatened them, thinking that length of time +and circumstances themselves would perchance soften down resentment, +and bring them to a healthy frame of mind. The Veientine enemy and the +Etruscans proceeded with proportionately greater precipitation; +they provoked them to battle, at first by riding up to the camp and +challenging them; at length when they produced no effect, by reviling +the consuls and the army alike, they declared that the pretence of +internal dissension was assumed as a cloak for cowardice: and that the +consuls rather distrusted the courage than disbelieved the sincerity +of their soldiers: that inaction and idleness among men in arms were a +novel form of sedition. Besides this they uttered insinuations, partly +true and partly false, as to the upstart nature of their race and +origin. While they loudly proclaimed this close to the very rampart +and gates, the consuls bore it without impatience: but at one time +indignation, at another shame, agitated the breasts of the ignorant +multitude, and diverted their attention from intestine evils; they +were unwilling that the enemy should remain unpunished; they did not +wish success either to the patricians or the consuls; foreign and +domestic hatred struggled for the mastery in their minds: at length +the former prevailed, so haughty and insolent were the jeers of the +enemy; they crowded in a body to the general's tent; they desired +battle, they demanded that the signal should be given. The consuls +conferred together as if to deliberate; they continued the conference +for a long time: they were desirous of fighting, but that desire they +considered should be checked and concealed, that by opposition and +delay they might increase the ardour of the soldiery now that it was +once roused. The answer was returned that the matter in question was +premature, that it was not yet time for fighting: let them keep within +their camp. They then issued a proclamation that they should abstain +from fighting: if any one fought without orders, they would punish +him as an enemy. When they were thus dismissed, their eagerness for +fighting increased in proportion as they believed the consuls were +less disposed for it; the enemy, moreover, who now showed themselves +with greater boldness, as soon as it was known that the consuls had +determined not to fight, further kindled their ardour. For they +supposed that they could insult them with impunity; that the soldiers +were not trusted with arms; that the affair would explode in a violent +mutiny; that an end had come to the Roman Empire. Relying on these +hopes, they ran up to the gates, heaped abuse on the Romans, and with +difficulty refrained from assaulting the camp. Then indeed the Romans +could no longer endure their insults: they ran from every quarter of +the camp to the consuls: they no longer, as formerly, put forth their +demands with reserve, through the mediation of the centurions of the +first rank, but all proceeded indiscriminately with loud clamours. The +affair was now ripe; yet still they hesitated. Then Fabius, as his +colleague was now inclined to give way in consequence of his dread of +mutiny in face of the increasing uproar, having commanded silence +by sound of trumpet, said: "I know that those soldiers are able to +conquer, Gneius Manlius: by their own conduct they themselves have +prevented me from knowing that they are willing. Accordingly, I have +resolved and determined not to give the signal, unless they swear that +they will return from this battle victorious. The soldier has once +deceived the Roman consul in the field, the gods he will never +deceive." There was a centurion, Marcus Flavoleius, one of the +foremost in demanding battle: said he, "Marcus Fabius, I will return +victorious from the field." He invoked upon himself, should he deceive +them, the wrath of Father Jove, Mars Gradivus, and the other gods. +After him in succession the whole army severally took the same oath. +After they had been sworn, the signal was given: they took up arms and +marched into battle, full of rage and of hope. They bade the Etruscans +now utter their reproaches: now severally demanded that the enemy, so +ready of tongue, should face them, now that they were armed. On that +day, both commons and patricians alike showed distinguished bravery: +the Fabian family shone forth most conspicuous: they were determined +to recover in that battle the affections of the commons, estranged by +many civil contests. + +The army was drawn up in order of battle; nor did the Veientine foe +and the Etruscan legions decline the contest. They entertained an +almost certain hope that the Romans would no more fight with them than +they had with the Aequans; that even some more serious attempt was not +to be despaired of, considering the sorely irritated state of their +feelings, and the critical condition of affairs. The result turned out +altogether different: for never before in any other war did the Roman +soldiers enter the field with greater fury, so exasperated were they +by the taunts of the enemy on the one hand, and the dilatoriness of +the consuls on the other. Before the Etruscans had time to form their +ranks, their javelins having been rather thrown away at random, in +the first confusion, than aimed at the enemy, the battle had become +a hand-to-hand encounter, even with swords, in which the fury of +war rages most fiercely. Among the foremost the Fabian family was +distinguished for the sight it afforded and the example it presented +to its fellow-citizens; one of these, Quintus Fabius, who had been +consul two years before, as he advanced at the head of his men against +a dense body of Veientines, and incautiously engaged amid numerous +parties of the enemy, received a sword-thrust through the breast at +the hands of a Tuscan emboldened by his bodily strength and skill in +arms: on the weapon being extracted, Fabius fell forward on the +wound. Both armies felt the fall of this one man, and the Romans in +consequence were beginning to give way, when the consul Marcus Fabius +leaped over the body of his prostrate kinsman, and, holding his +buckler in front, cried out: "Is this what you swore, soldiers, that +you would return to the camp in flight? Are you so afraid of your +most cowardly foes, rather than of Jupiter and Mars, by whom you have +sworn? Well, then, I, who have taken no oath, will either return +victorious, or will fall fighting here beside thee, Quintus Fabius." +Then Caeso Fabius, the consul of the preceding year, addressed the +consul: "Brother, is it by these words you think you will prevail on +them to fight? The gods, by whom they have sworn, will bring it about. +Let us also, as becomes men of noble birth, as is worthy of the Fabian +name, kindle the courage of the soldiers by fighting rather than by +exhortation." Thus the two Fabii rushed forward to the front with +spears presented, and carried the whole line with them. + +The battle being thus restored in one quarter, Gnaeus Manlius, the +consul, with no less ardour, encouraged the fight on the other wing, +where the course of the fortune of war was almost identical. For, as +the soldiers eagerly followed Quintus Fabius on the one wing, so did +they follow the consul Manlius on this, as he was driving the enemy +before him now nearly routed. When, having received a severe wound, he +retired from the battle, they fell back, supposing that he was slain, +and would have abandoned the position had not the other consul, +galloping at full speed to that quarter with some troops of horse, +supported their drooping fortune, crying out that his colleague was +still alive, that he himself was now at hand victorious, having routed +the other wing. Manlius also showed himself in sight of all to restore +the battle. The well-known faces of the two consuls kindled the +courage of the soldiers: at the same time, too, the enemy's line was +now thinner, since, relying on their superior numbers, they had drawn +off their reserves and despatched them to storm the camp This was +assaulted without much resistance: and, while they wasted time, +bethinking themselves of plunder rather than fighting, the Roman +triarii,[56] who had not been able to sustain the first shock, having +sent a report to the consuls of the position of affairs, returned in a +compact body to the praetorium,[57] and of their own accord renewed +the battle. The consul Manlius also having returned to the camp, and +posted soldiers at all the gates, had blocked up every passage against +the enemy. This desperate situation aroused the fury rather than the +bravery of the Etruscans; for when, rushing on wherever hope held +out the prospect of escape, they had advanced with several fruitless +efforts, a body of young men attacked the consul himself, who was +conspicuous by his arms. The first missiles were intercepted by those +who stood around him; afterward their violence could not be withstood. +The consul fell, smitten with a mortal wound, and all around him were +put to flight. The courage of the Etruscans increased. Terror drove +the Romans in dismay through the entire camp; and matters would have +come to extremities had not the lieutenants,[58] hastily seizing the +body of the consul opened a passage for the enemy at one gate.[59] +Through this they rushed out; and going away in the utmost disorder, +they fell in with the other consul, who had been victorious; there +a second time they were cut down and routed in every direction. A +glorious victory was won, saddened, however, by two such illustrious +deaths. The consul, therefore, on the senate voting him a triumph, +replied, that if the army could triumph without its general, he would +readily accede to it in consideration of its distinguished service in +that war: that for his own part, as his family was plunged in grief +in consequence of the death of his brother Quintus Fabius, and the +commonwealth in some degree bereaved by the loss of one of her +consuls, he would not accept the laurel disfigured by public and +private grief. The triumph thus declined was more illustrious than +any triumph actually enjoyed; so true it is, that glory refused at +a fitting moment sometimes returns with accumulated lustre. He next +celebrated the two funerals of his colleague and brother, one after +the other, himself delivering the funeral oration over both, wherein, +by yielding up to them the praise that was his own due, he himself +obtained the greatest share of it; and, not unmindful of that which +he had determined upon at the beginning of his consulate, namely, the +regaining the affection of the people, he distributed the wounded +soldiers among the patricians to be attended to. Most of them were +given to the Fabii: nor were they treated with greater attention +anywhere else. From this time the Fabii began to be popular, and that +not by aught save such conduct as was beneficial to the state. + +Accordingly, Caeso Fabius, having been elected consul with Titus +Verginius not more with the good-will of the senators than of the +commons, gave no attention either to wars, or levies, or anything else +in preference, until, the hope of concord being now in some measure +assured, the feelings of the commons should be united with those +of the senators at the earliest opportunity. Accordingly, at the +beginning of the year he proposed that before any tribune should stand +forth as a supporter of the agrarian law, the patricians themselves +should be beforehand in bestowing the gift unasked and making it their +own: that they should distribute among the commons the land taken from +the enemy in as equal a proportion as possible; that it was but just +that those should enjoy it by whose blood and labour it had been won. +The patricians rejected the proposal with scorn: some even complained +that the once vigorous spirit of Caeso was running riot, and decaying +through a surfeit of glory. There were afterward no party struggles in +the city. The Latins, however, were harassed by the incursions of +the Aequans. Caeso being sent thither with an army, crossed into the +territory of the Aequans themselves to lay it waste. The Aequans +retired into the towns, and kept themselves within the walls: on that +account no battle worth mentioning was fought. + +However, a reverse was sustained at the hands of the Veientine foe +owing to the rashness of the other consul; and the army would have +been all cut off, had not Caeso Fabius come to their assistance +in time. From that time there was neither peace nor war with the +Veientines: their mode of operation had now come very near to the form +of brigandage. They retired before the Roman troops into the city; +when they perceived that the troops were drawn off, they made +incursions into the country, alternately mocking war with peace and +peace with war. Thus the matter could neither be dropped altogether, +nor brought to a conclusion. Besides, other wars were threatening +either at the moment, as from the Aequans and Volscians, who remained +inactive no longer than was necessary, to allow the recent smart of +their late disaster to pass away, or at no distant date, as it was +evident that the Sabines, ever hostile, and all Etruria would soon +begin to stir up war: but the Veientines, a constant rather than a +formidable enemy, kept their minds in a state of perpetual uneasiness +by petty annoyances more frequently than by any real danger to be +apprehended from them, because they could at no time be neglected, and +did not suffer the Romans to turn their attention elsewhere. Then the +Fabian family approached the senate: the consul spoke in the name of +the family: "Conscript fathers, the Veientine war requires, as you +know, an unremitting rather than a strong defence. Do you attend to +other wars: assign the Fabii as enemies to the Veientines. We pledge +ourselves that the majesty of the Roman name shall be safe in +that quarter. That war, as if it were a family matter, it is our +determination to conduct at our own private expense. In regard to it +let the republic be spared the expense of soldiers and money." +The warmest thanks were returned to them. The consul, leaving the +senate-house, accompanied by the Fabii in a body, who had been +standing in the porch of the senate-house, awaiting the decree of the +senate, returned home. They were ordered to attend on the following +day in arms at the consul's gate: they then retired to their homes. + +The report spread through the entire city; they extolled the Fabii +to the skies: that a single family had undertaken the burden of the +state; that the Veientine war had now become a private concern, a +private quarrel. If there were two families of the same strength in +the city, let them demand, the one the Volscians for itself, the other +the Aequans; that all the neighbouring states could be subdued, +while the Roman people all the time enjoyed profound peace. The day +following, the Fabii took up arms; they assembled where they had been +ordered. The consul, coming forth in his military robe, beheld the +whole family in the porch drawn up in order of march; being received +into the centre, he ordered the standards to be advanced. Never did +an army march through the city, either smaller in number, or more +distinguished in renown and more admired by all. Three hundred and six +soldiers, all patricians, all of one family, not one of whom an honest +senate would reject as a leader under any circumstances whatever, +proceeded on their march, threatening the Veientine state with +destruction by the might of a single family. A crowd followed, +one part belonging to themselves, consisting of their kinsmen and +comrades, who contemplated no half measures, either as to their hope +or anxiety, but everything on a grand scale:[60] the other aroused by +solicitude for the public weal, unable to express their esteem and +admiration. They bade them proceed in their brave resolve, proceed +with happy omens, and render the issue proportionate to the +undertaking: thence to expect consulships and triumphs, all rewards, +all honours from them. As they passed the Capitol and the citadel, and +the other sacred edifices, they offered up prayers to all the gods +that presented themselves to their sight, or to their mind, that they +would send forward that band with prosperity and success, and soon +send them back safe into their country to their parents. In vain were +these prayers uttered. Having set out on their luckless road by the +right-hand arch of the Carmental gate,[61] they arrived at the river +Cremera:[62] this appeared a favourable situation for fortifying an +outpost. + +Lucius Aemilius and Gaius Servilius were then created consuls. And as +long as there was nothing else to occupy them but mutual devastations, +the Fabii were not only able to protect their garrison, but through +the entire tract, where the Tuscan territory adjoins the Roman, they +protected all their own districts and ravaged those of the enemy, +spreading their forces along both frontiers. There was afterward a +cessation, though not for long, of these depredations: while both the +Veientines, having sent for an army from Etruria,[63] assaulted the +outpost at the Cremera, and the Roman troops, brought up by the consul +Lucius Aemilius, came to a close engagement in the field with the +Etruscans; the Veientines, however, had scarcely time to draw up their +line: for, during the first alarm, while they were entering the lines +behind their colours, and they were stationing their reserves, a +brigade of Roman cavalry, charging them suddenly in flank, deprived +them of all opportunity not only of opening the fight, but even of +standing their ground. Thus being driven back to the Red Rocks [64]. +(where they had pitched their camp), as suppliants they sued for +peace; and, after it was granted, owing to the natural inconsistency +of their minds, they regretted it even before the Roman garrison was +withdrawn from the Cremera. + +Again the Veientine state had to contend with the Fabii without any +additional military armament: and not merely did they make raids into +each other's territories, or sudden attacks upon those carrying on +the raids, but they fought repeatedly on level ground, and in pitched +battles: and one family of the Roman people oftentimes gained the +victory over an entire Etruscan state, and a most powerful one for +those times. This at first appeared mortifying and humiliating to the +Veientines: then they conceived the design, suggested by the state of +affairs, of surprising their daring enemy by an ambuscade; they were +even glad that the confidence of the Fabii was increasing owing to +their great success. Wherefore cattle were frequently driven in the +path of the plundering parties, as if they had fallen in their way +by accident, and tracts of land left abandoned by the flight of +the peasants: and reserve bodies of armed men, sent to prevent the +devastations, retreated more frequently in pretended than in real +alarm. By this time the Fabii had conceived such contempt for the +enemy that they believed that their arms, as yet invincible, could not +be resisted either in any place or on any occasion: this presumption +carried them so far that at the sight of some cattle at a distance +from Cremera, with an extensive plain lying between, they ran down to +them, in spite of the fact that some scattered bodies of the enemy +were visible: and when, anticipating nothing, and in disorderly haste, +they had passed the ambuscade placed on either side of the road +itself, and, dispersed in different directions, had begun to carry off +the cattle that were straying about, as is usual when frightened, the +enemy started suddenly in a body from their ambuscade, and surrounded +them both in front and on every side. At first the noise of their +shouts, spreading, terrified them; then weapons assailed them from +every side: and, as the Etruscans closed in, they also were compelled, +hemmed in as they were by an unbroken body of armed men, to form +themselves into a square of narrower compass the more the enemy +pressed on: this circumstance rendered both their own scarcity of +numbers noticeable and the superior numbers of the Etruscans, whose +ranks were crowded in a narrow space. Then, having abandoned the +plan of fighting, which they had directed with equal effort in every +quarter, they all turned their forces toward one point; straining +every effort in that direction, both with their arms and bodies, and +forming themselves into a wedge, they forced a passage. The way led to +a gradually ascending hill: here they first halted: presently, as soon +as the higher ground afforded them time to gain breath, and to recover +from so great a panic, they repulsed the foe as they ascended: and the +small band, assisted by the advantages of the ground, was gaining the +victory, had not a party of the Veientines, sent round the ridge of +the hill, made their way to the summit: thus the enemy again got +possession of the higher ground; all the Fabii were cut down to a man, +and the fort was taken by assault: it is generally agreed that three +hundred and six were slain; that one only, who had nearly attained +the age of puberty, survived, who was to be the stock for the Fabian +family, and was destined to prove the greatest support of the Roman +people in dangerous emergencies on many occasions both at home and in +war.[65] + +At the time when this disaster was sustained, Gaius Horatius and Titus +Menenius were consuls. Menenius was immediately sent against +the Tuscans, now elated with victory. On that occasion also an +unsuccessful battle was fought, and the enemy took possession of the +Janiculum: and the city would have been besieged, since scarcity of +provisions distressed them in addition to the war--for the Etruscans +had passed the Tiber--had not the consul Horatius been recalled from +the Volscians; and so closely did that war approach the very walls, +that the first battle was fought near the Temple of Hope[66] with +doubtful success, and a second at the Colline gate. There, although +the Romans gained the upper hand by only a trifling advantage, yet +that contest rendered the soldiers more serviceable for future battles +by the restoration of their former courage. + +Aulus Verginius and Spurius Servilius were next chosen consuls. After +the defeat sustained in the last battle, the Veientines declined an +engagement.[67] Ravages were committed, and they made repeated attacks +in every direction upon the Roman territory from the Janiculum, as if +from a fortress: nowhere were cattle or husbandmen safe. They were +afterward entrapped by the same stratagem as that by which they +had entrapped the Fabii: having pursued cattle which had been +intentionally driven on in all directions to decoy them, they fell +into an ambuscade; in proportion as they were more numerous,[68] the +slaughter was greater. The violent resentment resulting from this +disaster was the cause and beginning of one still greater: for having +crossed the Tiber by night, they attempted to assault the camp of the +consul Servilius; being repulsed from thence with great slaughter, +they with difficulty made good their retreat to the Janiculum. The +consul himself also immediately crossed the Tiber, and fortified +his camp at the foot of the Janiculum: at daybreak on the following +morning, being both somewhat elated by the success of the battle of +the day before, more, however, because the scarcity of corn forced him +to adopt measures, however dangerous, provided only they were more +expeditious, he rashly marched his army up the steep of the Janiculum +to the camp of the enemy, and, being repulsed from thence with more +disgrace than when he had repulsed them on the preceding day, he +was saved, both himself and his army, by the intervention of his +colleague. The Etruscans, hemmed in between the two armies, and +presenting their rear to the one and the other by turns, were +completely destroyed. Thus the Veientine war was crushed by a +successful piece of audacity. [69] + +Together with peace, provisions came in to the city in greater +abundance, both by reason of corn having been brought in from +Campania, and, as soon as the fear of want, which every one felt was +likely to befall himself, left them, by the corn being brought out, +which had been stored. Then their minds once more became wanton from +plenty and ease, and they sought at home their former subjects of +complaint, now that there was none abroad; the tribunes began to +excite the commons by their poisonous charm, the agrarian law: they +roused them against the senators who opposed it, and not only against +them as a body, but against particular individuals. Quintus Considius +and Titus Genucius, the proposers of the agrarian law, appointed a day +of trial for Titus Menenius: the loss of the fort of Cremera, while +the consul had his standing camp at no great distance from thence, +was the cause of his unpopularity. This crushed him, though both the +senators had exerted themselves in his behalf with no less earnestness +than in behalf of Coriolanus, and the popularity of his father Agrippa +was not yet forgotten. The tribunes, however, acted leniently in +the matter of the fine: though they had arraigned him for a capital +offence, they imposed on him, when found guilty, a fine of only two +thousand asses. This proved fatal to him. They say that he could not +brook disgrace and anguish of mind: and that, in consequence, he was +carried off by disease. Another senator, Spurius Servilius was soon +after arraigned, as soon as he went out of office a day of trial +having been appointed for him by the tribunes, Lucius Caedicius and +Titus Statius, immediately at the beginning of the year, in the +consulship of Gaius Nautius and Publius Valerius: he did not, however, +like Menenius, meet the attacks of the tribunes with supplications on +the part of himself and the patricians, but with firm reliance on his +own integrity and his personal popularity. The battle with the Tuscans +at the Janiculum was also the charge brought against him: but being +a man of impetuous spirit, as he had formerly done in time of public +peril, so now in the danger which threatened himself, he dispelled +it by boldly meeting it, by confuting not only the tribunes but the +commons also, in a haughty speech, and upbraiding them with the +condemnation and death of Titus Menenius, by the good offices of whose +father the commons had formerly been re-established, and now had those +magistrates and enjoyed those laws, by virtue of which they then acted +so insolently: his colleague Verginius also, who was brought forward +as a witness, aided him by assigning to him a share of his own glory: +however--so had they changed their mind--the condemnation of Menenius +was of greater service to him. + +The contests at home were now concluded. A war against the Veientines, +with whom the Sabines had united their forces, broke out afresh. The +consul Publius Valerius, after auxiliaries had been sent for from +the Latins and Hernicans, being despatched to Veii with an army, +immediately attacked the Sabine camp, which had been pitched before +the walls of their allies, and occasioned such great consternation +that, while scattered in different directions, they sallied forth in +small parties to repel the assault of the enemy, the gate which he +first atacked was taken: then within the rampart a massacre rather +than a battle took place. From within the camp the alarm spread also +into the city; the Veientines ran to arms in as great a panic as if +Veii had been taken: some came up to the support of the Sabines, +others fell upon the Romans, who had directed all their force against +the camp. For a little while they were disconcerted and thrown into +confusion; then they in like manner formed two fronts and made a +stand: and the cavalry, being commanded by the consul to charge, +routed the Tuscans and put them to flight; and in the self-same +hour two armies and two of the most influential and powerful of the +neighbouring states were vanquished. While these events were taking +place at Veii, the Volscians and AEquans had pitched their camp in +Latin territory, and laid waste their frontiers. The Latins, being +joined by the Hernicans, without either a Roman general or Roman +auxiliaries, by their own efforts, stripped them of their camp. +Besides recovering their own effects, they obtained immense booty. The +consul Gaius Nautius, however, was sent against the Volscians from +Rome. The custom, I suppose, was not approved of, that the allies +should carry on wars with their own forces and according to their own +plans without a Roman general and troops. There was no kind of injury +and petty annoyance that was not practised against the Volscians; they +could not, however, be prevailed on to come to an engagement in the +field. + +Lucius Furius and Gaius Manlius were the next consuls. The Veientines +fell to Manlius as his province. No war, however, followed: a truce +for forty years was granted them at their request, but they were +ordered to provide corn and pay for the soldiers. Disturbance at home +immediately followed in close succession on peace abroad: the commons +were goaded by the spur employed by the tribunes in the shape of the +agrarian law. The consuls, no whit intimidated by the condemnation of +Menenius, nor by the danger of Servilius, resisted with their utmost +might; Gnaeus Genucius, a tribune of the people, dragged the consuls +before the court on their going out of office. Lucius AEmilius and +Opiter Verginius entered upon the consulate. Instead of Verginius I +find Vopiscus Julius given as consul in some annals. In this year +(whoever were the consuls) Furius and Manlius, being summoned to trial +before the people, in sordid garb solicited the aid of the younger +patricians as much as that of the commons: they advised, they +cautioned them to keep themselves from public offices and the +administration of public affairs, and indeed to consider the consular +fasces, the toga praetexta and curule chair, as nothing else but a +funeral parade: that when decked with these splendid insignia, as with +fillets, [70] they were doomed to death. But if the charms of the +consulate were so great they should even now rest satisfied that the +consulate was held in captivity and crushed by the tribunician power; +that everything had to be done by the consul, at the beck and command +of the tribune, as if he were a tribune's beadle. If he stirred, if he +regarded the patricians at all, if he thought that there existed any +other party in the state but the commons, let him set before his +eyes the banishment of Gnaeeus Marcius, the condemnation and death of +Menenius. Fired by these words, the patricians from that time held +their consultations not in public, but in private houses, and remote +from the knowledge of the majority, at which, when this one point only +was agreed on, that the accused must be rescued either by fair means +or foul, the most desperate proposals were most approved; nor did any +deed, however daring, lack a supporter.[71] Accordingly, on the day of +trial, when the people stood in the forum on tiptoe of expectation, +they at first began to feel surprised that the tribune did not come +down; then, the delay now becoming more suspicious, they believed that +he was hindered by the nobles, and complained that the public cause +was abandoned and betrayed. At length those who had been waiting +before the entrance of the tribune's residence announced that he +had been found dead in his house. As soon as rumour spread the news +through the whole assembly, just as an army disperses on the fall +of its general, so did they scatter in different directions. Panic +chiefly seized the tribunes, now taught by their colleague's death how +utterly ineffectual was the aid the devoting laws afforded them.[72] +Nor did the patricians display their exultation with due moderation; +and so far was any of them from feeling compunction at the guilty act, +that even those who were innocent wished to be considered to have +perpetrated it, and it was openly declared that the tribunician power +ought to be subdued by chastisement. + +Immediately after this victory, that involved a most ruinous +precedent, a levy was proclaimed; and, the tribunes being now +overawed, the consuls accomplished their object without any +opposition. Then indeed the commons became enraged more at the +inactivity of the tribunes than at the authority of the consuls: they +declared there was an end of their liberty: that things had returned +to their old condition: that the tribunician power had died along with +Genucius and was buried with him; that other means must be devised and +adopted, by which the patricians might be resisted: and that the only +means to that end was for the people to defend themselves, since they +had no other help: that four-and-twenty lictors waited on the consuls, +and they men of the common people: that nothing could be more +despicable, or weaker, if only there were persons to despise them; +that each person magnified those things and made them objects of +terror to himself. When they had excited one another by these words, +a lictor was despatched by the consuls to Volero Publilius, a man +belonging to the commons, because he declared that, having been a +centurion, he ought not to be made a common soldier. Volero appealed +to the tribunes. When no one came to his assistance, the consuls +ordered the man to be stripped and the rods to be got ready. "I appeal +to the people," said Volero, "since the tribunes prefer to see a Roman +citizen scourged before their eyes, than themselves to be butchered +by you each in his bed." The more vehemently he cried out, the more +violently did the lictor tear off his clothes and strip him. Then +Volero, being both himself a man of great bodily strength, and aided +by his partisans, having thrust back the lictor, retired into the +thickest part of the crowd, where the outcry of those who expressed +their indignation was loudest, crying out: "I appeal, and implore the +protection of the commons; assist me, fellow-citizens: assist me, +fellow-soldiers: it is no use to wait for the tribunes, who themselves +stand in need of your aid." The men, excited, made ready as if for +battle: and it was clear that a general crisis was at hand, that no +one would have respect for anything, either public or private right. +When the consuls had faced this violent storm, they soon found out +that authority unsupported by strength had but little security; the +lictors being maltreated, and the fasces broken, they were driven from +the forum into the senate-house, uncertain how far Volero would follow +up his victory. After that, the disturbance subsiding, having ordered +the members to be summoned to the senate, they complained of the +insults offered to themselves, of the violence of the people, of +the daring conduct of Volero. After many violent measures had been +proposed, the older members prevailed, who did not approve of the +rash behaviour of the commons being met by the resentment of the +patricians. + +The commons having warmly espoused the cause of Volero, at the next +meeting, secured his election as tribune of the people for that +year, in which Lucius Pinarius and Publics Furius were consuls: and, +contrary to the opinion of all, who thought that he would make free +use of his tribuneship to harass the consuls of the preceding year, +postponing private resentment to the public interest, without the +consuls being attacked even by a single word, he brought a bill before +the people that plebeian magistrates should be elected at the comitia +tributa.[73] A measure of no small importance was now proposed, under +an aspect at first sight by no means alarming; but one of such a +nature that it really deprived the patricians of all power of electing +whatever tribunes they pleased by the suffrage of their clients. The +patricians resisted to the utmost this proposal, which met with the +greatest approval of the commons: and though none of the college[74] +could be induced by the influence either of the consuls or of the +chief members of the senate to enter a protest against it, which was +the only means of effectual resistance, yet the matter, a weighty one +from its own importance, was spun out by party struggles for a +whole year. The commons re-elected Volero as tribune. The senators, +considering that the matter would end in a desperate struggle, elected +as Consul Appius Claudius, the son of Appius, who was both hated by +and had hated the commons, ever since the contests between them and +his father. Titus Quinctius was assigned to him as his colleague. +Immediately, at the beginning of the year,[75]no other question took +precedence of that regarding the law. But like Volero, the originator +of it, so his colleague, Laetorius, was both a more recent, as well as +a more energetic, supporter of it. His great renown in war made him +overbearing, because, in the age in which he lived, no one was more +prompt in action. He, while Volero confined himself to the discussion +of the law, avoiding all abuse of the consuls, broke out into +accusations against Appius and his family, as having ever been most +overbearing and cruel toward the Roman commons, contending that he had +been elected by the senators, not as consul, but as executioner, to +harass and torture the people: his tongue, unskilled in speech, as was +natural in a soldier, was unable to give adequate expression to the +freedom of his sentiments. When, therefore, language failed him, he +said: "Romans, since I do not speak with as much readiness as I make +good what I have spoken, attend here to-morrow. I will either die +before your eyes, or will carry the law." On the following day the +tribunes took possession of the platform: the consuls and the nobles +took their places together in the assembly to obstruct the law. +Laetorius ordered all persons to be removed, except those going to +vote. The young nobles kept their places, paying no regard to the +officer; then Laetorius ordered some of them to be seized. The consul +Appius insisted that the tribune had no jurisdiction over any one +except a plebeian; for that he was not a magistrate of the people in +general, but only of the commons; and that even he himself could not, +according to the usage of their ancestors, by virtue of his authority +remove any person, because the words were as follows: "If ye think +proper, depart, Quirites." He was easily able to disconcert Laetorius +by discussing his right thus contemptuously. The tribune, therefore, +burning with rage, sent his officer to the consul; the consul sent his +lictor to the tribune, exclaiming that he was a private individual, +without military office and without civil authority: and the tribune +would have been roughly handled, had not both the entire assembly +risen up with great warmth in behalf of the tribune against the +consul, and a crowd of people belonging to the excited multitude, +rushed from all parts of the city into the forum. Appius, however, +withstood this great storm with obstinacy, and the contest would have +ended in a battle, not without bloodshed, had not Quinctius, the other +consul, having intrusted the men of consular rank with the task of +removing his colleague from the forum by force, if they could not +do so in any other way, himself now assuaged the raging people by +entreaties, now implored the tribunes to dismiss the assembly. Let +them, said he, give their passion time to cool: delay would not in +any respect deprive them of their power, but would add prudence to +strength; and the senators would be under the control of the people, +and the consul under that of the senators. + +The people were with difficulty pacified by Quinctius; the other +consul with much more difficulty by the patricians. The assembly of +the people having been at length dismissed, the consuls convened the +senate; in which, though fear and resentment by turns had produced a +diversity of opinions, the more their minds were called off, by lapse +of time, from passion to reflection, the more adverse did they become +to contentiousness, so that they returned thanks to Quinctius, because +it was owing to his exertions that the disturbance had been quieted. +Appius was requested to give his consent that the consular dignity +should be merely so great as it could be in a state if it was to be +united: it was declared that, as long as the tribunes and consuls +claimed all power, each for his own side, no strength was left +between: that the commonwealth was distracted and torn asunder: that +the object aimed at was rather to whom it should belong, than that +it should be safe. Appius, on the contrary, called gods and men to +witness that the commonwealth was being betrayed and abandoned through +cowardice; that it was not the consul who had failed to support the +senate, but the senate the consul: that more oppressive conditions +were now being submitted to than had been submitted to on the Sacred +Mount. Overcome, however, by the unanimous feeling of the senators, he +desisted: the law was carried without opposition. + +Then for the first time the tribunes were elected in the comita +tributa. Piso is the authority for the statement that three were added +to the number, as if there had been only two before. He also gives +the names of the tribunes, Gnaeus Siccius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus +Duellius, Spurius Icilius, Lucius Mecilius. During the disturbance +at Rome, a war broke out with the Volscians and AEquans, who had laid +waste the country, so that, if any secession of the people took place, +they might find a refuge with them. Afterward, when matters were +settled, they moved back their camp. Appius Claudius was sent against +the Volscians; the AEquans fell to Quinctius as his province. Appius +exhibited the same severity in war as at home, only more unrestrained, +because it was free from the control of the tribunes. He hated the +commons with a hatred greater than that inherited from his father: he +had been defeated by them: when he had been chosen consul as the only +man able to oppose the influence of the tribunes, a law had been +passed, which former consuls had obstructed with less effect, amid +hopes of the senators by no means so great as those now placed in him. +His resentment and indignation at this stirred his imperious temper to +harass the army by the severity of his command; it could not, however, +be subdued by any exercise of authority, with such a spirit of +opposition were the soldiers filled. They carried out all orders +slowly, indolently, carelessly, and stubbornly: neither shame nor +fear restrained them. If he wished the march to be accelerated, they +designedly went more slowly: if he came up to them to encourage them +in their work, they all relaxed the energy which they had before +exerted of their own accord: they cast down their eyes in his +presence, they silently cursed him as he passed by; so that that +spirit, unconquered by plebeian hatred, was sometimes moved. Every +kind of severity having been tried without effect, he no longer held +any intercourse with the soldiers; he said the army was corrupted by +the centurions; he sometimes gibingly called them tribunes of the +people and Voleros. + +None of these circumstances were unknown to the Volscians, and they +pressed on with so much the more vigour, hoping that the Roman +soldiers would entertain the same spirit of opposition against Appius +as they had formerly exhibited against the consul Fabius. However, +they showed themselves still more embittered against Appius than +against Fabius. For they were not only unwilling to conquer, like the +army of Fabius, but even wished to be conquered. When led forth into +the field, they made for their camp in ignominious flight, and did +not stand their ground until they saw the Volscians advancing against +their fortifications, and the dreadful havoc in the rear of their +army. Then they were compelled to put forth their strength for battle, +in order that the now victorious enemy might be dislodged from their +lines; while, however, it was sufficiently clear that the Roman +soldiers were only unwilling that the camp should be taken, in regard +to all else they gloried in their own defeat and disgrace. When the +haughty spirit of Appius, in no wise broken by this behaviour of the +soldiers, purposed to act with still greater severity, and summoned a +meeting, the lieutenants and tribunes flocked around him, recommending +him by no means to decide to put his authority to the proof, the +entire strength of which lay in unanimous obedience, saying that the +soldiers generally refused to come to the assembly, and that their +voices were heard on all sides, demanding that the camp should be +removed from the Volscian territory: that the victorious enemy were +but a little time ago almost at the very gates and rampart, and that +not merely a suspicion but the visible form of a grievous disaster +presented itself to their eyes. Yielding at last--since they gained +nothing save a respite from punishment--having prorogued the assembly, +and given orders that their march should be proclaimed for the +following day, at daybreak he gave the signal for departure by sound +of trumpet. At the very moment when the army, having got clear of the +camp, was forming itself, the Volscians, as if they had been aroused +by the same signal, fell upon those in the rear: from these the alarm +spreading to the van, threw both the battalions and companies into +such a state of consternation, that neither could the general's +orders be distinctly heard, nor the lines drawn up. No one thought +of anything but flight. In such loose order did they make their way +through heaps of dead bodies and arms, that the enemy ceased their +pursuit sooner than the Romans their flight. The soldiers having at +length rallied from their disordered flight, the consul, after he had +in vain followed his men, bidding them return, pitched his camp in a +peaceful part of the country; and having convened an assembly, after +inveighing not without good reason against the army, as traitors to +military discipline, deserters of their posts, asking them, one by one +where were their standards, where their arms, he first beat with rods +and then beheaded those soldiers who had thrown down their arms, +the standard-bearers who had lost their standards, and also the +centurions, and those who received double allowance,[76] who had +deserted their ranks. With respect to the rest of the rank and file, +every tenth man was drawn by lot for punishment. + +On the other hand, the consul and soldiers among the AEquans vied with +each other in courtesy and acts of kindness: Quinctius was naturally +milder in disposition, and the ill-fated severity of his colleague had +caused him to give freer vent to his own good temper. This remarkable +agreement between the general and his army the AEquans did not venture +to meet, but suffered the enemy to go through their country committing +devastations in every direction. Nor were depredations committed more +extensively in that quarter in any preceding war. The whole of the +booty was given to the soldiers. In addition, they received praise, in +which the minds of soldiers find no less pleasure than in rewards. The +army returned more reconciled both to their general, and also, thanks +to the general, to the patricians, declaring that a parent had been +given to them, a tyrant to the other army by the senate. The year +which had passed with varied success in war, and violent dissensions +at home and abroad, was rendered memorable chiefly by the elections +of tribes, a matter which was more important from the victory in the +contest[77] that was undertaken than from any real advantage; for more +dignity was withdrawn from the elections themselves by the fact that +the patricians were excluded from the council, than influence either +added to the commons or taken from the patricians.[78] + +A still more stormy year followed, when Lucius Valerius and Titus +AEmilius were consuls, both by reason of the struggles between the +different orders concerning the agrarian law, as well as on account +of the trial of Appius Claudius, for whom Marcus Duilius and Gnaeus +Siccius appointed a day of trial, as a most active opposer of the law, +and one who supported the cause of the possessors of the public land, +as if he were a third consul [79]. Never before was an accused +person so hateful to the commons brought to trial before the people, +overwhelmed with their resentment against himself and also against his +father. The patricians too seldom made equal exertions so readily on +one's behalf: they declared that the champion of the senate, and the +upholder of their dignity, set up as a barrier against all the storms +of the tribunes and commons, was exposed to the resentment of the +commons, although he had only exceeded the bounds of moderation in the +contest. Appius Claudius himself was the only one of the patricians +who made light both of the tribunes and commons and his own trial. +Neither the threats of the commons, nor the entreaties of the senate, +could ever persuade him even to change his garb, or accost persons +as a suppliant, or even to soften or moderate his usual harshness of +speech in the least degree, when his cause was to be pleaded before +the people. The expression of his countenance was the same; the same +stubbornness in his looks, the same spirit of pride in his language: +so that a great part of the commons felt no less awe of Appius when on +his trial than they had felt for him when consul. He pleaded his cause +only once, and in the same haughty style of an accuser which he had +been accustomed to adopt on all occasions: and he so astounded both +the tribunes and the commons by his intrepidity, that, of their own +accord, they postponed the day of trial, and then allowed the matter +to die out. No long interval elapsed: before, however, the appointed +day came, he died of some disease; and when the tribunes of the people +endeavoured to put a stop to his funeral panegyric, the commons would +not allow the burial day of so great a man to be defrauded of the +customary honours: and they listened to his eulogy when dead as +patiently as they had listened to the charges brought against him when +living, and attended his obsequies in vast numbers. + +In the same year the consul Valerius, having marched with an army +against the Aequans, and being unable to draw out the enemy to an +engagement, proceeded to attack their camp. A dreadful storm coming +down from heaven accompanied by thunder and hail prevented him. Then, +on a signal for a retreat being given, their surprise was excited +by the return of such fair weather, that they felt scruples about +attacking a second time a camp which was defended as it were by some +divine power: all the violence of the war was directed to plundering +the country. The other consul, Aemilius, conducted the war in Sabine +territory. There also, because the enemy confined themselves within +their walls, the lands were laid waste. Then the Sabines, roused by +the burning not only of the farms, but of the villages also, which +were thickly inhabited, after they had fallen in with the raiders +retired from an engagement the issue of which was left undecided, and +on the following day removed their camp into a safer situation. This +seemed a sufficient reason to the consul why he should leave the +enemy as conquered, and depart thence, although the war was as yet +unfinished. + +During these wars, while dissensions still continued at home, Titus +Numicius Priscus and Aulus Verginius were elected consuls. The commons +appeared determined no longer to brook the delay in accepting the +agrarian law, and extreme violence was on the point of being resorted +to, when it became known by the smoke from the burning farms and +the flight of the peasants that the Volscians were at hand; this +circumstance checked the sedition that was now ripe and on the point +of breaking out. The consuls, under the immediate compulsion of the +senate, led forth the youth from the city to war, and thereby rendered +the rest of the commons more quiet. And the enemy indeed, having +merely filled the Romans with fear that proved groundless, departed +in great haste. Numicius marched to Antium against the Volscians, +Verginius against the Aequans. There, after they had nearly met with +a great disaster in an attack from an ambuscade, the bravery of the +soldiers restored their fortunes, which had been endangered through +the carelessness of the consul. Affairs were conducted better in the +case of the Volscians. The enemy were routed in the first engagement, +and driven in flight into the city of Antium, a very wealthy place, +considering the times: the consul, not venturing to attack it, took +from the people of Antium another town, Caeno,[80] which was by no +means so wealthy While the Aequans and Volscians engaged the attention +of the Roman armies, the Sabines advanced in their depredations even +to the gates of the city: then they themselves, a few days later, +sustained from the two armies heavier losses than they had inflicted, +both the consuls having entered their territories under the influence +of exasperation. + +At the close of the year to some extent there was peace, but, as +frequently at other times, a peace disturbed by contests between the +patricians and commons. The exasperated commons refused to attend the +consular elections: Titus Quinctius and Quintus Servilius were elected +consuls through the influence of the patricians and their dependents: +the consuls had a year similar to the preceding, disturbed at the +beginning, and afterward tranquil by reason of war abroad. The Sabines +crossing the plains of Crustumerium by forced marches, after carrying +fire and sword along the banks of the Anio, being repulsed when they +had nearly come up to the Colline gate and the walls, drove off, +however, great booty of men and cattle: the consul Servilius, having +pursued them with an army bent on attacking them, was unable to +overtake the main body itself in the level country: he, however, +extended his devastations over such a wide area, that he left nothing +unmolested by war, and returned after having obtained booty many times +greater than that carried off by the enemy. The public cause was also +extremely well supported among the Volscians by the exertions both of +the general and the soldiers. First a pitched battle was fought, on +level ground, with great slaughter and much bloodshed on both sides: +and the Romans, because their small numbers caused their loss to be +more keenly felt, would have given way, had not the consul, by a +well-timed fiction, reanimated the army, by crying out that the enemy +was in flight on the other wing; having charged, they, by believing +themselves victorious, became so. The consul, fearing lest, by +pressing on too far, he might renew the contest, gave the signal for +retreat. A few days intervened, both sides resting as if by tacit +suspension of hostilities: during these days a vast number of persons +from all the states of the Volscians and Equans came to the camp, +feeling no doubt that the Romans would depart during the night, if +they perceived them. Accordingly, about the third watch [81], they +came to attack the camp. Quinctius having allayed the confusion which +the sudden panic had occasioned, and ordered the soldiers to remain +quiet in their tents, led out a cohort of the Hernicans for an advance +guard: the trumpeters and horn blowers he mounted on horseback, and +commanded them to sound their trumpets before the rampart, and to keep +the enemy in suspense till daylight: during the rest of the night +everything was so quiet in the camp, that the Romans had even the +opportunity of sleeping.[82] The sight of the armed infantry, whom +they both considered to be more numerous than they were, and at the +same time Romans, the bustle and neighing of the horses, which became +restless, both from the fact of strange riders being mounted on them, +and moreover from the sound of the trumpets frightening them, kept the +Volscians intently awaiting an attack of the enemy. + +When the day dawned, the Romans, invigorated and having enjoyed a full +sleep, on being marched out to battle, at the first onset caused the +Volscians to give way, wearied as they were from standing and keeping +watch: though indeed the enemy rather retired than were routed, +because in the rear there were hills to which the unbroken ranks +behind the first line had a safe retreat. The consul, when he came to +the uneven ground, halted his army; the infantry were kept back +with difficulty; they loudly demanded to be allowed to pursue the +discomfited foe. The cavalry were more violent: crowding round the +general, they cried out that they would proceed in front of the first +line. While the consul hesitated, relying on the valour of his men, +yet having little confidence in the nature of the ground, they all +cried out that they would proceed; and execution followed the shout. +Fixing their spears in the ground, in order that they might be lighter +to mount the heights, they advanced uphill at a run. The Volscians, +having discharged their missile weapons at the first onset, hurled +down the stones that lay at their feet upon the Romans as they +were making their way up, and having thrown them into confusion by +incessant blows, strove to drive them from the higher ground: thus +the left wing of the Romans was nearly overborne, had not the consul +dispelled their fear by rousing them to a sense of shame as they were +on the point of retreating, chiding at the same time their temerity +and their cowardice. At first they stood their ground with determined +firmness; then, as they recovered their strength by still holding +their position, they ventured to advance of themselves, and, renewing +their shouts, they encouraged the whole body to advance: then having +made a fresh attack, they forced their way up and surmounted the +unfavourable ground. They were now on the point of gaining the summit +of the hill, when the enemy turned their backs, and pursued and +pursuer at full speed rushed into the camp almost in one body. During +this panic the camp was taken; such of the Volscians as were able to +make good their escape, made for Antium. The Roman army also was +led thither; after having been invested for a few days, the town +surrendered, not in consequence of any new efforts on the part of the +besiegers, but because the spirits of the inhabitants had sunk ever +since the unsuccessful battle and the loss of their camp. + + +[Footnote 1: The functions of the old priest-king were divided, the +political being assigned to the consuls, the duty of sacrificing +to the newly-created rex sacrificulus, who was chosen from the +patricians: he was, nevertheless, subject to the control of the +Pontifex Maximus, by whom he was chosen from several nominees of the +college of priests.] + +[Footnote 2: This, of course applied only to patricians. Plebians were +accounted nobodies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 3: The insula Tiberina between Rome and the Janiculum.] + +[Footnote 4: Vindicta was properly the rod which was laid on the head +of a slave by the magistrate who emancipated him, or by one of his +attendants: the word is supposed to be derived from vim dicere +(to declare authority).] + +[Footnote 5: Near the Janiculum, between the Via Aurelia and the Via +Claudia.] + +[Footnote 6: A part of the Palatine.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: The goddess of victory [vi(n)co-pot(is)].] + +[Footnote 8: Practically a sentence of combined excommunication and +outlawry.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 9: Now Chiusi.] + +[Footnote 10: They did not let these salt-works by auction, but took +them under their own management, and carried them on by means +of persons employed to work on the public account. These +salt-works, first established at Ostia by Ancus, were, like other +public property, farmed out to the publicans. As they had a high +rent to pay, the price of salt was raised in proportion; but now the +patricians, to curry favour with the plebeians, did not let the salt-pits +to private tenants, but kept them in the hands of public labourers, to +collect all the salt for the public use; and appointed salesmen to +retail it to the people at a cheaper rate.] + +[Footnote 11: Just below the sole remaining pillar of the Pons +Aemilius.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," has made +this incident the basis of one of the most stirring poems in the +English language. Though familiar to all, it does not seem out of +place to quote from his "Horatius" in connection with the story as +told by Livy: + + "Alone stood brave Horatius, + But constant still in mind; + Thrice thirty thousand foes before + And the broad flood behind. + 'Down with him!' cried false Sextus, + With smile on his pale face. + 'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena, + 'Now yield thee to our grace.' + + * * * * * + + 'O Tiber! father Tiber! + To whom the Romans pray, + A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, + Take thou in charge this day!' + So he spake, and speaking, sheathed + The good sword by his side, + And with his harness on his back + Plunged headlong in the tide. + + No sound of joy or sorrow + Was heard from either bank, + But friends and foes, in dumb surprise, + With parted lips and straining eyes, + Stood gazing where he sank; + And when above the surges + They saw his crest appear, + All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, + And even the ranks of Tuscany + Could scarce forbear to cheer. + + But fiercely ran the current, + Swollen high by months of rain; + And fast his blood was flowing, + And he was sore in pain, + And heavy with his armour, + And spent with changing blows; + And oft they thought him sinking, + But still again he rose. + + * * * * * + + 'Curse on him!' quoth false Sextus, + 'Will not the villain drown? + But for this stay, ere close of day, + We should have sacked the town!' + 'Heaven help him!' quoth Lars Porsena + 'And bring him safe to shore; + For such a gallant feat of arms + Was never seen before.' + + And now he feels the bottom; + Now on dry earth he stands; + Now round him throng the fathers + To press his gory hands; + And now with shouts and clapping, + And noise of weeping loud, + He enters through the River-gate + Borne by the joyous crowd. + + * * * * * + + When the goodman mends his armour, + And trims his helmet's plume; + When the good wife's shuttle merrily + Goes flashing through the loom; + With weeping and with laughter + Still is the story told, + How well Horatius kept the bridge + In the brave days of old." ] + +[Footnote 13: Of the left hand.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: Probably where the Cliva Capitolina begins to ascend the +slope of the Capitol.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 15: The most ancient of the Greek colonies in Italy. Its +ruins are on the coast north of the Promontory of Miseno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 16: Leading from the forum to the Velabrum.] + +[Footnote 17: It was situated in the Alban Hills about ten miles from +Rome, on the site of the modern Frascati.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Suessa-Pometia, mentioned in former note. Cora is now +Cori.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 19: Their home was in Campania.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: Wooden roofs covered with earth or wet hides, and rolled +forward on wheels for the protection of those engaged in battering or +mining the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, the Romans'.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps because the twenty-four axes of both consuls +went to the dictator.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: Now Palestrina] + +[Footnote 24: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome": The Battle of +Lake Regillus.] + +[Footnote 25: The bound (by the law of debt), from nexo, to join or +connect.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 26: That is, for allowing themselves to suffer it and yet +fight for their oppressors.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 27: For military service.] + +[Footnote:28 Known as Mercuriales. Mercury was the patron of +merchants.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: That is, over the senate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: About 40,000 men.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: That is, like Vetusius, watching the Aequans, who +uncrippled were lying in their mountain fastnesses in northern Latium, +waiting a chance to renew their ravages.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Modern Velletri.] + +[Footnote 33: a chair-shaped X .Its use was an insignia first of +royalty, then of the higher magistracies.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: Supposed to be the hill beyond and to the right of the +Ponte Nomentano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 35: Lucius Calpurnius Piso, the historian.] + +[Footnote 36: This fable is of very great antiquity. Max Mueller says +it is found among the Hindus.] + +[Footnote 37: The law which declared the persons of the tribunes +inviolate and him who transgressed it accursed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: Modern Anzio, south of Ostia on the coast of +Latium.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: Between Ardea and Aricia.] + +[Footnote 40: The sixth part of the as, the Roman money unit, which +represented a pound's weight of copper.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 41: Its ruins lie on the road to Terracina, near Norma, and +about forty-five miles from Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: The clientes formed a distinct class; they were the +hereditary dependents of certain patrician families (their patroni) to +whom they were under various obligations; they naturally sided with +the patricians.] + +[Footnote 43: Dionysius and Plutarch give an account of the +prosecution much more favourable to the defendant.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 44: Celebrated annually in the Circus Maximus, September 4th +to 12th, in honour of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, or, according to +some authorities, of Consus and Neptunus Equestus.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: A >-shaped yoke placed on the slave's neck, with his +hands tied to the ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 46: In a grove at the foot of the Alban Hill.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: There seems to be something wrong here, as Satricum, +etc., were situated west of the Via Appia, while Livy places them on +the Via Latina. Niebuhr thinks that the words "passing across ... +Latin way," should be transposed, and inserted after the words "he +then took in succession." For the position of these towns, see Map.] + +[Footnote 48: Quintus Fabius Pictor, the historian.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: The ager publicus consisted of the landed estates which +had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land taken from +enemies who had been conquered in war. The patricians, having the +chief political power, gained exclusive occupation (possessio) of this +ager publicus, for which they paid a nominal rent in the shape of +produce and tithes. The nature of the charge brought by Cassius was +not the fact of its being occupied by privati, but by patricians to +the exclusion of plebeians.] + +[Footnote 50: "Quaestors," this is the first mention of these officers +in Livy; in early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those who were guilty of treason, and to carry out the +punishment.] + +[Footnote 51: On the west slope of the Esquiline.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 52: There seems to be something wrong in the text here, as +the subterfuge was distinctively a patrician one, and the commons had +nothing to gain and all to lose by it. If Livy means that the commons +provoked war by giving cause for the patricians to seek refuge in it, +he certainly puts it very vaguely.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 53: July 15th.] + +[Footnote 54: By being buried alive. The idea being that the +ceremonies could not be duly performed by an unchaste vestal.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 55: By his power of veto.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 56: These were veterans and formed the third line. The first +were the "hastati," so called from their carrying long spears, +which were later discarded for heavy javelins. The second were the +"principes," the main line.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: The space assigned for the general's tent.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: The legati of a general were at once his council of war +and his staff.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 59: There is much in the description of this battle not easy +to understand, and I am inclined to believe it was at least no better +than drawn. The plundered camp, the defeat of the triarii, and +the failure to mention pursuit or consequences, all favour this +supposition.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 60: It was to be victory or annihilation.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 61: so called from the altar of Carmenta, which stood near +it. It was located in or near what is now the Piazza Montanara, and +was always after considered a gate of evil omen.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: Now the Valchetta.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 63: Probably of mercenaries, as the Veientines are alluded +to throughout the paragraph as commanding, and it was apparently not a +case of alliance.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 64: On the Via Flaminia (near the grotta rossa).] + +[Footnote 65: This story has been much questioned by learned +commentators. I see nothing improbable in it if we pare down the +exploits a little, and the evidence, such as it is all pro.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: As this temple was about a mile from the city, it is +probable the Romans were defeated and that the second fight at the +gate means simply that they repulsed an assault on the walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: That is, did not renew their assault on the +walls.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: Evidently only a small detatchment, since they were +in condition to assault a fortified consular camp despite their +defeat.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: The story of this war is much more doubtful than the +exploit of the Fabii, and Livy, as usual, furnishes the material for +his own criticism.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: After the manner of animals about to be +sacrificed.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: This was probably the origin of the "clubs" of young +patricians, to which so much of the later violance was due.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 72: The lex sacrata, which declared their persons +inviolate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 73: The assembly of the plebeians by tribes.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 74: Of tribunes.] + +[Footnote 75: The consular year.] + +[Footnote 76: One of the rewards of good conduct was double +rations.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 77: That is, the contest to obtain the reform.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 78: While the plebeians lost the dignity conferred on the +assembly by the presence of distinguished patricians, they gained +nothing, as, in the mere matter of votes, they already had a majority; +and the patricians lost nothing, as the number of their votes would +not be sufficient to render them of much importance.] + +[Footnote 79: There were other specific charges, but Livy confines +himself to the spirit of the prosecution.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 80: The port of Antium, now Nettuno.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 81: Midnight.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 82: The rendering of the rest of this section is vague and +unsatisfactory.--D. O.] + + + +BOOK III + +THE DECEMVIRATE + +After the capture of Antium, Titus AEmilius and Quintus Fabius became +consuls. This was the Fabius who was the sole survivor of the family +that had been annihilated at the Cremera. AEmilius had already in his +former consulship recommended the bestowal of land on the people. +Accordingly, in his second consulship also, both the advocates of the +agrarian law encouraged themselves to hope for the passing of the +measure, and the tribunes took it up, thinking that a result, that +had been frequently attempted in opposition to the consuls, might be +obtained now that at any rate one consul supported it: the consul +remained firm in his opinion. The possessors of state land [1]--and +these a considerable part of the patricians--transferred the odium of +the entire affair from the tribunes to the consul, complaining that a +man, who held the first office in the state, was busying himself with +proposals more befitting the tribunes, and was gaining popularity by +making presents out of other people's property. A violent contest +was at hand; had not Fabius compromised the matter by a suggestion +disagreeable to neither party. That under the conduct and auspices of +Titus Quinctius a considerable tract of land had been taken in the +preceding year from the Volscians: that a colony might be sent to +Antium, a neighbouring and conveniently situated maritime city: in +this manner the commons would come in for lands without any complaints +on the part of the present occupiers, and the state remain at peace. +This proposition was accepted. He secured the appointment of Titus +Quinctius, Aulus Verginius, and Publius Furius as triumvirs for +distributing the land: such as wished to receive land were ordered to +give in their names. The attainment of their object created disgust +immediately, as usually happens, and so few gave in their names that +Volscian colonists were added to fill up the number: the rest of the +people preferred to ask for land in Rome, rather than to receive it +elsewhere. The Aequans sued for peace from Quintus Fabius (he had +gone thither with an army), and they themselves broke it by a sudden +incursion into Latin territory. + +In the following year Quintus Servilius (for he was consul with +Spurius Postumius), being sent against the Aequans, pitched his camp +permanently in Latin territory: unavoidable inaction held the army in +check, since it was attacked by illness. The war was protracted to the +third year, when Quintus Fabius and Titus Quinctius were consuls. To +Fabius, because he, as conqueror, had granted peace to the Aequans +that sphere of action was assigned in an unusual manner.[2]He, setting +out with a sure hope that his name and renown would reduce the Aequans +to submission, sent ambassadors to the council of the nation, and +ordered them to announce that Quintus Fabius, the consul, stated that +he had brought peace to Rome from the Aequans, that from Rome he now +brought them war, with that same right hand, but now armed, which he +had formerly given to them in amity; that the gods were now witnesses, +and would presently take vengeance on those by whose perfidy and +perjury that had come to pass. That he, however, be matters as they +might, even now preferred that the Aequans should repent of their own +accord rather than suffer the vengeance of an enemy. If they repented, +they would have a safe retreat in the clemency they had already +experienced; but if they still took pleasure in perjury, they would +wage war with the gods enraged against them rather than their enemies. +These words had so little effect on any of them that the ambassadors +were near being ill-treated, and an army was sent to Algidum[3] +against the Romans. When news of this was brought to Rome, the +indignity of the affair, rather than the danger, caused the other +consul to be summoned from the city; thus two consular armies advanced +against the enemy in order of battle, intending to come to an +engagement at once. But as it happened that not much of the day +remained, one of the advance guard of the enemy cried out: "This is +making a show of war, Romans, not waging it: you draw up your army +in line of battle, when night is at hand; we need a longer period of +daylight for the contest which is to come. Tomorrow at sunrise return +to the field: you shall have an opportunity of fighting, never fear." +The soldiers, stung by these taunts, were marched back into camp till +the following day, thinking that a long night was approaching, which +would cause the contest to be delayed. Then indeed they refreshed +their bodies with food and sleep: on the following day, when it was +light, the Roman army took up their position some considerable time +before. At length the Aequans also advanced. The battle was hotly +contested on both sides, because the Romans fought under the influence +of resentment and hatred, while the Aequans were compelled by a +consciousness of danger incurred by misconduct, and despair of any +confidence being reposed in them hereafter, to venture and to have +recourse to the most desperate efforts. The Aequans, however, did +not withstand the attack of the Roman troops, and when, having been +defeated, they had retired to their own territories, the savage +multitude, with feelings not at all more disposed to peace, began to +rebuke their leaders: that their fortunes had been intrusted to the +hazard of a pitched battle, in which mode of fighting the Romans were +superior. That the Aequans were better adapted for depredations and +incursions, and that several parties, acting in different directions, +conducted wars with greater success than the unwieldy mass of a single +army. + +Accordingly, having left a guard over the camp, they marched out and +attacked the Roman frontiers with such fury that they carried terror +even to the city: the fact that this was unexpected also caused +more alarm, because it was least of all to be feared that an enemy, +vanquished and almost besieged in their camp, should entertain +thoughts of depredation: and the peasants, rushing through the gates +in a state of panic, cried out that it was not a mere raid, nor +small parties of plunderers, but, exaggerating everything in their +groundless fear, whole armies and legions of the enemy that were close +at hand, and that they were hastening toward the city in hostile +array. Those who were nearest carried to others the reports heard from +these, reports vague and on that account more groundless: and the +hurry and clamour of those calling to arms bore no distant resemblance +to the panic that arises when a city has been taken by storm. It so +happened that the consul Quinctius had returned to Rome from Algidum: +this brought some relief to their terror; and, the tumult being +calmed, after chiding them for their dread of a vanquished enemy, he +set a guard on the gates. Then a meeting of the senate was summoned, +and a suspension of business proclaimed by their authority: he +himself, having set out to defend the frontiers, leaving behind +Quintus Servilius as prefect of the city, found no enemy in the +country. Affairs were conducted with distinguished success by the +other consul; who, having attacked the enemy, where he knew that they +would arrive, laden with booty, and therefore marching with their +army the more encumbered, caused their depredation to prove their +destruction. Few of the enemy escaped from the ambuscade; all the +booty was recovered. Thus the return of the consul Quinctius to the +city put an end to the suspension of business, which lasted four days. +A census[4] was then held, and the lustrum [Footnote: The ceremony of +purification took place every five years, hence "Justrum" came to be +used for a period of five years.] closed by Quinctius: the number of +citizens rated is said to have been one hundred and four thousand +seven hundred and fourteen, not counting orphans of both sexes. +Nothing memorable occurred afterward among the AEquans; they retired +into their towns, allowing their possessions to be consumed by +fire and devastated. The consul, after he had repeatedly carried +devastation with a hostile army through the whole of the enemy's +country, returned to Rome with great glory and booty. + +The next consuls were Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. +Furii is by some writers written Fusii; this I mention, to prevent any +one thinking that the change, which is only in the names, is in the +persons themselves. There was no doubt that one of the consuls was +about tobegin hostilities against the AEquans. The latter accordingly +sought help from the Volscians of Ecetra; this was readily granted +(so keenly did these states contend in inveterate hatred against the +Romans), and preparations for war were made with the utmost vigour. +The Hernicans came to hear of it, and warned the Romans that the +Ecetrans had revolted to the AEquans: the colony of Antium also was +suspected, because, after the town had been taken a great number of +the inhabitants had fled thence for refuge to the AEquans: and these +soldiers behaved with the very greatest bravery during the course of +the war. After the AEquans had been driven into the towns, when this +rabble returned to Antium, it alienated from the Romans the colonists +who were already of their own accord disposed to treachery. The matter +not yet being ripe, when it had been announced to the senate that a +revolt was intended, the consuls were charged to inquire what was +going on, the leading men of the colony being summoned to Rome. When +they had attended without reluctance, they were conducted before the +senate by the consuls, and gave such answers to the questions that +were put to them that they were dismissed more suspected than they had +come. + +After this, war was regarded as inevitable. Spurius Furius, one of +the consuls to whom that sphere of action had fallen, having marched +against the Aequans, found the enemy committing depredations in the +country of the Hernicans; and being ignorant of their numbers, because +they had nowhere been seen all together, he rashly hazarded an +engagement with an army which was no match for their forces. Being +driven from his position at the first onset, he retreated to his camp; +nor was that the end of his danger; for both on the next night and the +following day, his camp was beset and assaulted with such vigour that +not even a messenger could be despatched thence to Rome. The Hernicans +brought news both that an unsuccessful battle had been fought, and +that the consul and army were besieged; and inspired the senate with +such terror, that the other consul Postumius was charged to see to it +that the commonwealth took no harm,[5] a form of decree which has ever +been deemed to be one of extreme urgency. It seemed most advisable +that the consul himself should remain at Rome to enlist all such +as were able to bear arms: that Titus Quinctius should be sent as +proconsul[6] to the relief of the camp with the army of the allies: to +complete this army the Latins and Hernicans, and the colony of Antium +were ordered to supply Quinctius with troops hurriedly raised-such was +the name (subitarii) that they gave to auxiliaries raised for sudden +emergencies. + +During those days many manoeuvres and many attacks were carried out +on both sides, because the enemy, having the advantage in numbers, +attempted to harass the Roman forces by attacking them on many sides, +as not likely to prove sufficient to meet all attacks. While the camp +was being besieged, at the same time part of the army was sent to +devastate Roman territory, and to make an attempt upon the city +itself, should fortune favour. Lucius Valerius was left to guard the +city: the consul Postumius was sent to prevent the plundering of the +frontiers. There was no abatement in any quarter either of vigilance +or activity; watches were stationed in the city, outposts before the +gates, and guards along the walls: and a cessation of business +was observed for several days, as was necessary amid such general +confusion. In the meantime the consul Furius, after he had at first +passively endured the siege in his camp, sallied forth through the +main gate[7] against the enemy when off their guard; and though he +might have pursued them, he stopped through apprehension, that an +attack might be made on the camp from the other side. The lieutenant +Furius (he was also the consul's brother) was carried away too far +in pursuit: nor did he, in his eagerness to follow them up, observe +eitherhis own party returning, or the attack of the enemy on his rear: +being thus shut out, having repeatedly made many unavailing efforts to +force his way to the camp, he fell, fighting bravely. In like manner +the consul, turning about to renew the fight, on being informed that +his brother was surrounded, rushing into the thick of the fight rashly +rather than with sufficient caution, was wounded, and with difficulty +rescued by those around him. This both damped the courage of his own +men, and increased the boldness of the enemy; who, being encouraged +by the death of the lieutenant, and by the consul's wound, could not +afterward have been withstood by any force, as the Romans, having been +driven into their camp, were again being besieged, being a match for +them neither in hopes nor in strength, and the very existence of the +state would have been imperilled, had not Titus Quinctius come to +their relief with foreign troops, the Latin and Hernican army. He +attacked the Aequans on their rear while their attention was fixed on +the Roman camp, and while they were insultingly displaying the head of +the lieutenant: and, a sally being made at the same time from the camp +at a signal given by himself from a distance, he surrounded a large +force of the enemy. Of the Aequans in Roman territory the slaughter +was less, their flight more disorderly. As they straggled in different +directions, driving their plunder before them, Postumius attacked +them in several places, where he had posted bodies of troops in +advantageous positions. They, while straying about and pursuing their +flight in great disorder, fell in with the victorious Quinctius as he +was returning with the wounded consul. Then the consular army by its +distinguished bravery amply avenged the consul's wound, and the death +of the lieutenant and the slaughter of the cohorts; heavy losses were +both inflicted and received on both sides during those days. In a +matter of such antiquity it is difficult to state, so as to inspire +conviction, the exact number of those who fought or fell: Antias +Valerius, however, ventures to give an estimate of the numbers: that +in the Hernican territory there fell five thousand eight hundred +Romans; that of the predatory parties of the Aequans, who strayed +through the Roman frontiers for the purpose of plundering, two +thousand four hundred were slain by the consul Aulus Postumius; that +the rest of the body which fell in with Quinctius while driving its +booty before them, by no means got off with a loss equally small: of +these he asserts that four thousand, and by way of stating the number +exactly, two hundred and thirty were slain. After their return to +Rome, the cessation of business was abandoned. The sky seemed to be +all ablaze with fire; and other prodigies either actually presented +themselves before men's eyes, or exhibited imaginary appearances to +their affrighted minds. To avert these terrors, a solemn festival for +three days was proclaimed, during which all the shrines were filled +with a crowd of men and women, earnestly imploring the favour of the +gods. After this the Latin and Hernican cohorts were sent back to +their respective homes, after they had been thanked by the senate for +their spirited conduct in war. The thousand soldiers from Antium were +dismissed almost with disgrace, because they had come after the battle +too late to render assistance. + +The elections were then held: Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius +were elected consuls, and entered on their office on the calends of +August[8] according to the practice of beginning the year on that +date. It was an unhealthy season, and it so happened that the year [9] +was pestilential to the city and country, and not more to men than to +cattle; and they themselves increased the severity of the disease by +admitting the cattle and the peasants into the city in consequence of +their dread of devastation. This collection of animals of every kind +mingled together both distressed the inhabitants of the city by the +unusual stench, and also the peasants, crowded together into their +confined dwellings, by heat and want of sleep while their attendance +on each other, and actual contact helped to spread disease. While they +were hardly able to endure the calamities that pressed upon them, +ambassadors from the Hernicans suddenly brought word that the Aequans +and Volscians had united their forces, and pitched their camp in their +territory: that from thence they were devastating their frontiers with +an immense army. In addition to the fact that the small attendance of +the senate was a proof to the allies that the state was prostrated by +the pestilence, they further received this melancholy answer: That the +Hernicans, as well as the Latins, must now defend their possessions by +their own unaided exertions. That the city of Rome, through the sudden +anger of the gods, was ravaged by disease. If any relief from that +calamity should arise, that they would afford aid to their allies, +as they had done the year before, and always on other occasions. The +allies departed, carrying home, instead of the melancholy news they +had brought, news still more melancholy, seeing that they were now +obliged to sustain by their own resources a war, which they would have +with difficulty sustained even if backed by the power of Rome. The +enemy no longer confined themselves to the Hernican territory. They +proceeded thence with determined hostility into the Roman territories, +which were already devastated without the injuries of war. There, +without any one meeting them, not even an unarmed person, they +passed through entire tracts destitute not only of troops, but +even uncultivated, and reached the third milestone on the Gabinian +road.[10] Aebutius, the Roman consul, was dead: his colleague, +Servilius, was dragging out his life with slender hope of recovery; +most of the leading men, the chief part of the patricians, nearly all +those of military age, were stricken down with disease, so that they +not only had not sufficient strength for the expeditions, which amid +such an alarm the state of affairs required, but scarcely even for +quietly mounting guard. Those senators, whose age and health permitted +them, personally discharged the duty of sentinels. The patrol and +general supervision was assigned to the plebeian aediles: on them +devolved the chief conduct of affairs and the majesty of the consular +authority. + +The commonwealth thus desolate, since it was without a head, and +without strength, was saved by the guardian gods and good fortune of +the city, which inspired the Volscians and AEquans with the disposition +of freebooters rather than of enemies; for so far were their minds +from entertaining any hope not only of taking but even of approaching +the walls of Rome, and so thoroughly did the sight of the houses in +the distance, and the adjacent hills, divert their thoughts, that, on +a murmur arising throughout the entire camp--why should they waste +time in indolence without booty in a wild and desert land, amid the +pestilence engendered by cattle and human beings, when they could +repair to places as yet unattacked--the Tusculan territory abounding +in wealth? They suddenly pulled up their standards,[11] and, by +cross-country marches, passed through the Lavican territory to the +Tusculan hills: to that quarter the whole violence and storm of the +war was directed. In the meantime the Hernicans and Latins, influenced +not only by compassion but by a feeling of shame, if they neither +opposed the common enemy who were making for the city of Rome with +a hostile army, nor afforded any aid to their allies when besieged, +marched to Rome with united forces. Not finding the enemy there, they +followed their tracks in the direction they were reported to have +taken, and met them as they were coming down from Tusculan territory +into the Alban valley: there a battle was fought under circumstances +by no means equal; and their fidelity proved by no means favourable to +the allies for the time being. The havoc caused by pestilence at Rome +was not less than that caused by the sword among the allies: the only +surviving consul died, as well as other distinguished men, Marcus +Valerius, Titus Verginius Rutilus, augurs: Servius Sulpicius, chief +priest of the curies:[12] while among undistinguished persons the +virulence of the disease spread extensively: and the senate, destitute +of human aid, directed the people's attention to the gods and to vows: +they were ordered to go and offer supplications with their wives and +children, and to entreat the favour of Heaven. Besides the fact that +their own sufferings obliged each to do so, when summoned by public +authority, they filled all the shrines; the prostrate matrons in every +quarter sweeping the temples with their hair, begged for a remission +of the divine displeasure, and a termination to the pestilence. + +From this time, whether it was that the favour of the gods was +obtained, or that the more unhealthful season of the year was now +over, the bodily condition of the people, now rid of disease, +gradually began to be more healthy, and their attention being +now directed to public concerns, after the expiration of several +interregna, Publius Valerius Publicola, on the third day after he had +entered on his office of interrex,[13] procured the election of Lucius +Lucretius Tricipitinus, and Titus Veturius (or Vetusius) Geminus, to +the consulship. They entered on their consulship on the third day +before the ides of August,[14] the state being now strong enough +not only to repel a a hostile attack, but even to act itself on the +offensive. Therefore when the Hernicans announced that the enemy had +crossed over into their boundaries, assistance was readily promised: +two consular armies were enrolled. Veturius was sent against the +Volscians to carry on an offensive war. Tricipitinus, being posted to +protect the territory of the allies from devastation, proceeded no +further than into the countryof the Hernicans. Veturius routed and put +the enemy to flight in the first engagement. A party of plunderers, +led over the Praenestine Mountains, and from thence sent down into the +plains, was unobserved by Lucretius, while he lay encamped among the +Hernicans. These laid waste all the countryaround Praeneste and Gabii: +from the Gabinian territory they turned their course toward the +heights of Tusculum; great alarm was excited in the city of Rome also, +more from the suddenness of the affair than because there was not +sufficient strength to repel the attack. Quintus Fabius was in command +of the city; he, having armed the young men and posted guards, made +things secure and tranquil. The enemy, therefore, not venturing to +approach the city, when they were returning by a circuitous route, +carrying off plunder from the adjacent places, their caution being now +more relaxed, in proportion as they removed to a greater distance from +the enemy's city, fell in with the consul Lucretius, who had already +reconnoitred his lines of march, and whose army was drawn up in battle +array and resolved upon an engagement. Accordingly, having attacked +them with predetermined resolution, though with considerably inferior +forces, they routed and put to flight their numerous army, while +smitten with sudden panic, and having driven them into the deep +valleys, where means of egress were not easy, they surrounded them. +There the power of the Volscians was almost entirely annihilated. In +some annals, I find that thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy +fell in battle and in flight that one thousand seven hundred and fifty +were taken alive, that twenty-seven military standards were captured: +and although in accounts there may have been some exaggeration in +regard to numbers, undoubtedly great slaughter took place. The +victorious consul, having obtained immense booty, returned to his +former standing camp. Then the consuls joined camps. The Volscians and +AEquans also united their shattered strength. This was the third battle +in that year; the same good fortune gave them victory; the enemy was +routed, and their camp taken. + +Thus the affairs of Rome returned to their former condition; and +successes abroad immediately excited commotions in the city. Gaius +Terentilius Harsa was tribune of the people in that year: he, +considering that an opportunity was afforded for tribunician intrigues +during the absence of the consuls began, after railing against the +arrogance of the patricians for several days before the people, to +inveigh chiefly against the consular authority, as being excessive +and intolerable for a free state: for that in name only was it less +hateful, in reality it was almost more cruel than the authority of the +kings: that forsooth in place of one, two masters had been accepted, +with unbounded and unlimited power, who, themselves unrestrained and +unbridled, directed all the terrors of the law, and all kinds of +punishments against the commons. Now, in order that their unbounded +license might not last forever, he would bring forward a law that five +persons be appointed to draw up laws regarding the consular power, by +which the consul should use that right which the people should have +given him over them, not considering their own caprice and license +as law. Notice having been given of this law, as the patricians were +afraid, lest, in the absence of the consuls, they should be subjected +to the yoke; the senate was convened by Quintus Fabius, prefect of the +city, who inveighed so vehemently against the bill and its proposer +that no kind of threats or intimidation was omitted by him, which both +the consuls could supply, even though they surrounded the tribune in +all their exasperation: That he had lain in wait, and, having seized a +favourable opportunity, had made an attack on the commonwealth. If +the gods in their anger had given them any tribune like him in the +preceding year, during the pestilence and war, it could not have +been endured: that, when both the consuls were dead, and the state +prostrate and enfeebled, in the midst of the general confusion he +would have proposed laws to abolish the consular government altogether +from the state; that he would have headed the Volscians and AEquans in +an attack on the city. What, if the consuls behaved in a tyrannical or +cruel manner against any of the citizens, was it not open to him to +appoint a day of trial for them, to arraign them before those very +judges against any one of whom severity might have been exercised? +That he by his conduct was rendering, not the consular authority, but +the tribunician power hateful and insupportable; which, after having +been in a state of peace, and on good terms with the patricians, was +now being brought back anew to its former mischievous practices; nor +did he beg of him not to proceed as he had begun. "Of you, the other +tribunes," said Fabius, "we beg that you will first of all consider +that that power was appointed for the aid of individuals, not for the +ruin of the community; that you were created tribunes of the commons, +not enemies of the patricians. To us it is distressing, to you +a source of odium, that the republic, now bereft of its chief +magistrates, should be attacked; you will diminish not your rights, +but the odium against you. Confer with your colleague that he may +postpone this business till the arrival of the consuls, to be then +discussed afresh; even the AEquans and the Volscians, when our consuls +were carried off by pestilence last year, did not harass us with a +cruel and tyrannical war." The tribunes conferred with Terentilius, +and the bill being to all appearance deferred, but in reality +abandoned, the consuls were immediately sent for. + +Lucretius returned with immense spoil, and much greater glory; and +this glory he increased on his arrival, by exposing all the booty in +the Campus Martius, so that each person might, for the space of three +days, recognise what belonged to him and carry it away; the remainder, +for which no owners were forthcoming, was sold. A triumph was by +universal consent due to the consul; but the matter was deferred, as +the tribune again urged his law; this to the consul seemed of greater +importance. The business was discussed for several days, both in the +senate and before the people: at last the tribune yielded to the +majesty of the consul, and desisted; then their due honour was paid to +the general and his army. He triumphed over the Volscians and AEquans; +his troops followed him in his triumph. The other consul was allowed +to enter the city in ovation[15]unaccompanied by his soldiers. + +In the following year the Terentilian law, being brought forward +again by the entire college, engaged the serious attention of the new +consuls, who were Publius Volumnius and Servius Sulpicius. In that +year the sky seemed to be on fire, and a violent earthquake took +place: it was believed that an ox spoke, a phenomenon which had not +been credited in the previous year: among other prodigies there was a +shower of flesh, which a large flock of birds is said to have carried +off by pecking at the falling pieces: that which fell to the ground +is said to have lain scattered about just as it was for several days, +without becoming tainted. The books were consulted[16] by the duumviri +for sacred rites: dangers of attacks to be made on the highest +parts of the city, and of consequent bloodshed, were predicted as +threatening from an assemblage of strangers; among other things, +admonition was given that all intestine disturbances should be +abandoned.[17] The tribunes alleged that that was done to obstruct the +law, and a desperate contest was at hand. + +On a sudden, however, that the same order of events might be renewed +each year, the Hernicans announced that the Volscians and the AEquans, +in spite of their strength being much impaired, were recruiting their +armies: that the centre of events was situated at Antium; that the +colonists of Antium openly held councils at Ecetra: that there was the +head--there was the strength--of the war. As soon as this announcement +was made in the senate, a levy was proclaimed: the consuls were +commanded to divide the management of the war between them; that the +Volscians should be the sphere of action of the one, the AEquans of the +other. The tribunes loudly declared openly in the forum that the story +of the Volscian war was nothing but a got-up farce: that the Hernicans +had been trained to act their parts: that the liberty of the Roman +people was now not even crushed by manly efforts, but was baffled by +cunning; because it was now no longer believed that the Volscians and +the AEquans who were almost utterly annihilated, could of themselves +begin hostilities, new enemies were sought for: that a loyal colony, +and one in their very vicinity, was being rendered infamous: that war +was proclaimed against the unoffending people of Antium, in reality +waged with the commons of Rome, whom, loaded with arms, they were +determined to drive out of the city with precipitous haste, wreaking +their vengeance on the tribunes by the exile and expulsion of their +fellow-citizens. That by these means--and let them not think that +there was any other object contemplated--the law was defeated, unless, +while the matter was still in abeyance, while they were still at home +and in the grab of citizens, they took precautions, so as to avoid +being driven out of possession of the city, or being subjected to the +yoke. If they only had spirit, support would not be wanting: that +all the tribunes were unanimous: that there was no apprehension from +abroad, no danger. That the gods had taken care, in the preceding +year that their liberty could be defended with safety. Thus spoke the +tribunes. + +But on the other side, the consuls, having placed their chairs[18] +within view of them, were holding the levy; thither the tribunes +hastened down, and carried the assembly along with them; a few [19] +were summoned, as it were, by way of making an experiment, and +instantly violence ensued. Whomsoever the lictor laid hold of by order +of the consul, him the tribune ordered to be released; nor did his own +proper jurisdiction set a limit to each, but they rested their hopes +on force, and whatever they set their mind upon, was to be gained by +violence. Just as the tribunes had behaved in impeding the levy, in +the same manner did the consuls conduct themselves in obstructing the +law which was brought forward on each assembly day. The beginning of +the riot was that the patricians refused to allow themselves to be +moved away, when the tribunes ordered the people to proceed to give +their vote. Scarcely any of the older citizens mixed themselves up +in the affair, inasmuch as it was one that would not be directed by +prudence, but was entirely abandoned to temerity and daring. The +consuls also frequently kept out of the way, lest in the general +confusion they might expose their dignity to insult. There was one +Caeso Quinctius, a youth who prided himself both on the nobility of +his descent, and his bodily stature and strength; to these endowments +bestowed on him by the gods, he himself had added many brave deeds +in war, and eloquence in the forum; so that no one in the state was +considered readier either in speech or action. When he had taken his +place in the midst of a body of the patricians, pre-eminent above +the rest, carrying as it were in his eloquence and bodily strength +dictatorships and consulships combined, he alone withstood the storms +of the tribunes and the populace. Under his guidance the tribunes were +frequently driven from the forum, the commons routed and dispersed; +such as came in his way, came off ill-treated and stripped: so that it +became quite clear that, if he were allowed to proceed in this way, +the law was as good as defeated Then, when the other tribunes were +now almost thrown into despair, Aulus Verginius, one of the colleges, +appointed a day for Caeso to take his trial on a capital charge. By +this proceeding he rather irritated than intimidated his violent +temper: so much the more vigorously did he oppose the law, harass +the commons, and persecute the tribunes, as if in a regular war. The +accuser suffered the accused to rush headlong to his ruin, and to fan +the flame of odium and supply material for the charges he intended to +bring against him: in the meantime he proceeded with the law, not +so much in the hope of carrying it through, as with the object +of provoking rash action on the part of Caeso. After that many +inconsiderate expressions and actions of the younger patricians were +put down to the temper of Caeso alone, owing to the suspicion with +which he was regarded: still the law was resisted. Also Aulus +Verginius frequently remarked to the people: "Are you now sensible, +Quirites that you can not at the same time have Caeso as a +fellow-citizen, and the law which you desire? Though why do I speak +of the law? He is a hindrance to your liberty; he surpasses all the +Tarquins in arrogance. Wait till that man is made consul or dictator, +whom, though but a private citizen, you now see exercising kingly +power by his strength and audacity." Many agreed, complaining that +they had been beaten by him: and, moreover, urged the tribune to go +through with the prosecution. + +The day of trial was now at hand, and it was evident that people in +general considered that their liberty depended on the condemnation of +Caeso: then, at length being forced to do so, he solicited the commons +individually, though with a strong feeling of indignation; his +relatives and the principal men of the state attended him. Titus +Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, recounting many +splendid achievements of his own, and of his family, declared that +neither in the Quinctian family, nor in the Roman state, had there +ever appeared such a promising genius displaying such early valour. +That he himself was the first under whom he had served, that he had +often in his sight fought against the enemy. Spurius Furius declared +that Caeso, having been sent to him by Quinctius Capitolinus, had come +to his aid when in the midst of danger; that there was no single +individual by whose exertions he considered the common weal had been +more effectually re-established. Lucius Lucretius, the consul of the +preceding year, in the full splendour of recent glory, shared his own +meritorious services with Caeso; he recounted his battles detailed his +distinguished exploits, both in expeditions and in pitched battle; +he recommended and advised them to choose rather that a youth so +distinguished, endowed with all the advantages of nature and fortune, +and one who should prove the greatest support of whatsoever state he +should visit, should continue to be a fellow-citizen of their own, +rather than become the citizen of a foreign state: that with respect +to those qualities which gave offence in him, hot-headedness and +overboldness, they were such as increasing years removed more and more +every day: that what was lacking, prudence, increased day by day: that +as his faults declined, and his virtues ripened, they should allow so +distinguished a man to grow old in the state. Among these his father, +Lucius Quinctius, who bore the surname of Cincinnatus, without +dwelling too often on his services, so as not to heighten public +hatred, but soliciting pardon for his youthful errors, implored them +to forgive his son for his sake, who had not given offence to any +either by word or deed. But while some, through respect or fear, +turned away from his entreaties, others, by the harshness of their +answer, complaining that they and their friends had been ill-treated, +made no secret of what their decision would be. + +Independently of the general odium, one charge in particular bore +heavily on the accused; that Marcus Volscius Fictor, who some years +before had been tribune of the people, had come forward to bear +testimony: that not long after the pestilence had raged in the city, +he had fallen in with a party of young men rioting in the Subura;[20] +that a scuffle had taken place: and that his elder brother, not yet +perfectly recovered from his illness, had been knocked down by Caeso +with a blow of his fist: that he had been carried home half dead in +the arms of some bystanders, and that he was ready to declare that +he had died from the blow: and that he had not been permitted by +the consuls of former years to obtain redress for such an atrocious +affair. In consequence of Volscius vociferating these charges, the +people became so excited that Caeso was near being killed through the +violence of the crowd. Verginius ordered him to be seized and dragged +off to prison. The patricians opposed force to force. Titus Quinctius +exclaimed that a person for whom a day of trial for a capital offence +had been appointed, and whose trial was now close at hand, ought not +to be outraged before he was condemned, and without a hearing. The +tribune replied that he would not inflict punishment on him before he +was condemned: that he would, however, keep him in prison until the +day of trial, that the Roman people might have an opportunity of +inflicting punishment on one who had killed a man.[21] The tribunes +being appealed to, got themselves out of the difficulty in regard to +their prerogative of rendering aid, by a resolution that adopted a +middle course: they forbade his being thrown into confinement, and +declared it to be their wish that the accused should be brought to +trial, and that a sum of money should be promised to the people, +in case he should not appear. How large a sum of money ought to be +promised was a matter of doubt: the decision was accordingly referred +to the senate. The accused was detained in public custody until the +patricians should be consulted: it was decided that bail should be +given: they bound each surety in the sum of three thousand asses; how +many sureties should be given was left to the tribunes; they fixed the +number at ten: on this number of sureties the prosecutor admitted the +accused to bail.[22] He was the first who gave public sureties. Being +discharged from the forum, he went the following night into exile +among the Tuscans. When on the day of trial it was pleaded that he +had withdrawn into voluntary exile, nevertheless, at a meeting of +the comitia under the presidency of Verginius, his colleagues, when +appealed to, dismissed the assembly: [23] the fine was rigorously +exacted from his father, so that, having sold all his effects, he +lived for a considerable time in an out-of-the-way cottage on the +other side of the Tiber, as if in exile. + +This trial and the proposal of the law gave full employment to the +state: in regard to foreign wars there was peace. When the tribunes, +as if victorious, imagined that the law was all but passed owing to +the dismay of the patricians at the banishment of Caeso, and in +fact, as far as regarded the seniors of the patricians, they had +relinquished all share in the administration of the commonwealth, the +juniors, more especially those who were the intimate friends of Caeso, +redoubled their resentful feelings against the commons, and did not +allow their spirits to fail; but the greatest improvement was made +in this particular, that they tempered their animosity by a certain +degree of moderation. The first time when, after Cseso's banishment, +the law began to be brought forward, these, arrayed and well prepared, +with a numerous body of clients, so attacked the tribunes, as soon as +they afforded a pretext for it by attempting to remove them, that no +one individual carried home from thence a greater share than another, +either of glory or ill-will, but the people complained that in place +of one Caeso a thousand had arisen. During the days that intervened, +when the tribunes took no proceedings regarding the law, nothing could +be more mild or peaceable than those same persons; they saluted the +plebeians courteously, entered into conversation with them, and +invited them home: they attended them in the forum,[24] and suffered +the tribunes themselves to hold the rest of their meetings without +interruption: they were never discourteous to any one either in public +or in private, except on occasions when the matter of the law began +to be agitated. In other respects the young men were popular. And +not only did the tribunes transact all their other affairs without +disturbance, but they were even re-elected or the following year. +Without even an offensive expression, much less any violence being +employed, but by soothing and carefully managing the commons the young +patricians gradually rendered them tractable. By these artifices the +law was evaded through the entire year. + +The consuls Gaius Claudius, the son of Appius, and Publius Valerius +Publicola, took over the government from their predecessors in a more +tranquil condition. The next year had brought with it nothing new: +thoughts about carrying the law, or submitting to it, engrossed the +attention of the state. The more the younger patricians strove +to insinuate themselves into favour with the plebeians, the more +strenuously did the tribunes strive on the other hand to render them +suspicious in the eyes of the commons by alleging that a conspiracy +had been formed; that Caeso was in Rome; that plans had been concerted +for assassinating the tribunes, for butchering the commons. That the +commission assigned by the elder members of the patricians was, that +the young men should abolish the tribunician power from the state, and +the form of government should be the same as it had been before the +occupation of the Sacred Mount. At the same time a war from the +Volscians and AEquans, which had now become a fixed and almost regular +occurrence every year, was apprehended, and another evil nearer home +started up unexpectedly. Exiles and slaves, to the number of two +thousand five hundred, seized the Capitol and citadel during the +night, under the command of Appius Herdonius, a Sabine. Those who +refused to join the conspiracy and take up arms with them were +immediately massacred in the citadel: others, during the disturbance, +fled in headlong panic down to the forum: the cries, "To arms!" and +"The enemy are in the city!" were heard alternately. The consuls +neither dared to arm the commons, nor to suffer them to remain +unarmed; uncertain what sudden calamity had assailed the city, whether +from without or within, whether arising from the hatred of the commons +or the treachery of the slaves: they tried to quiet the disturbances, +and while trying to do so they sometimes aroused them; for the +populace, panic-stricken and terrified, could not be directed by +authority. They gave out arms, however, but not indiscriminately; only +so that, as it was yet uncertain who the enemy were, there might be +a protection sufficiently reliable to meet all emergencies. The +remainder of the night they passed in posting guards in suitable +places throughout the city, anxious and uncertain who the enemy were, +and how great their number. Daylight subsequently disclosed the war +and its leader. Appius Herdonius summoned the slaves to liberty from +the Capitol, saying, that he had espoused the cause of all the most +unfortunate, in order to bring back to their country those who had +been exiled and driven out by wrong, and to remove the grievous yoke +from the slaves: that he had rather that were done under the authority +of the Roman people. If there were no hope in that quarter, he would +rouse the Volscians and Aequans, and would try even the most desperate +remedies. + +The whole affair now began to be clearer to the patricians and +consuls; besides the news, however, which was officially announced, +they dreaded lest this might be a scheme of the Veientines or Sabines; +and, further, as there were so many of the enemy in the city, lest +the Sabine and Etruscan troops might presently come up according to +a concerted plan, and their inveterate enemies, the Volscians and +Aequans should come, not to ravage their territories, as before, but +even to the gates of the city, as being already in part taken. Many +and various were their fears, the most prominent among which was their +dread of the slaves, lest each should harbour an enemy in his own +house, one whom it was neither sufficiently safe to trust, nor, by +distrusting, to pronounce unworthy of confidence, lest he might prove +a more deadly foe. And it scarcely seemed that the evil could be +resisted by harmony: no one had any fear of tribunes or commons, while +other troubles so predominated and threatened to swamp the state: that +fear seemed an evil of a mild nature, and one that always arose during +the cessation of other ills, and then appeared to be lulled to rest +by external alarm. Yet at the present time that, almost more than +anything else, weighed heavily on their sinking fortunes: for such +madness took possession of the tribunes, that contended that not war, +but an empty appearance of war, had taken possession of the Capitol, +to divert the people's minds from attending to the law: that these +friends and clients of the patricians would depart in deeper silence +than they had come, if they once perceived that, by the law being +passed, they had raised these tumults in vain. They then held a +meeting for passing the law, having called away the people from arms. +In the meantime, the consuls convened the senate, another dread +presenting itself by the action of the tribunes, greater than that +which the nightly foe had occasioned. + +When it was announced that the men were laying aside their arms, and +quitting their posts, Publius Valerius, while his colleague still +detained the senate, hastened from the senate-house, and went thence +into the meeting-place to the tribunes. "What is all this," said he, +"O tribunes? Are you determined to overthrow the commonwealth under +the guidance and auspices of Appius Herdonius? Has he been so +successful in corrupting you, he who, by his authority, has not even +influenced your slaves? When the enemy is over our heads, is it your +pleasure that we should give up our arms, and laws be proposed?" Then, +directing his words to the populace: "If, Quirites, no concern for +your city, or for yourselves, moves you, at least revere the gods +of your country, now made captive by the enemy. Jupiter, best +and greatest, Queen Juno, and Minerva, and the other gods and +goddesses,[25] are being besieged; a camp of slaves now holds +possession of the tutelary gods of the state. Does this seem to you +the behavior of a state in its senses? Such a crowd of enemies is not +only within the walls, but in the citadel, commanding the forum an +senate-house: in the meanwhile meetings are being held in the forum, +the senate is in the senate-house: just as when tranquility prevails, +the senator gives his opinion, the other Romans their votes. Does it +not behoove all patricians and plebeians, consuls, tribunes, gods, and +men of all classes, to bring aid with arms in their hands, to hurry +into the Capitol, to liberate and restore to peace that most august +residence of Jupiter, best and greatest? O Father Romulus! Do thou +inspire thy progeny with that determination of thine, by which thou +didst formerly recover from these same Sabines this citadel, when +captured by gold. Order them to pursue this same path, which thou, as +leader, and thy army, pursued. Lo! I as consul will be the first to +follow thee and thy footsteps, as far as I, a mortal, can follow a +god." Then, in concluding his speech, he said that he was ready to +take up arms, that he summoned every citizen of Rome to arms; if any +one should oppose, that he, heedless of the consular authority, the +tribunician power, and the devoting laws, would consider him as an +enemy, whoever and wheresoever he might be, in the Capitol, or in the +forum. Let the tribunes order arms to be taken up against Publius +Valerius the consul, since they forbade it against Appius Herdonius; +that he would dare to act in the case of the tribunes, as the founder +of his family [26] had dared to act in the case of the kings. It was +now clear that matters would come to violent extremities, and that a +quarrel among Romans would be exhibited to the enemy. The law however +could neither be carried, nor could the consul proceed to the Capitol. +Night put an end to the struggle that had been begun; the tribunes +yielded to the night, dreading the arms of the consuls.[27] When the +ringleaders of the disturbances had been removed, the patricians went +about among the commons, and, mingling in their meetings, spread +statements suited to the occasion: they advised them to take heed into +what danger they were bringing the commonwealth: that the contest +was not one between patricians and commons, but that patricians and +commons together, the fortress of the city, the temples of the gods, +the guardian gods of the state and of private families, were being +delivered up to the enemy. While these measures were being taken in +the forum for the purpose of appeasing the disturbances, the consuls +in the meantime had retired to visit the gates and the walls, fearing +that the Sabines or the Veientine enemy might bestir themselves. + +During the same night, messengers reached Tusculum with news of the +capture of the citadel, the seizure of the Capitol, and also of the +generally disturbed condition of the city. Lucius Mamilius was at that +time dictator at Tusculum; he, having immediately convoked the senate +and introduced the messengers, earnestly advised, that they should not +wait until ambassadors came from Rome, suing for assistance; that the +danger itself and importance of the crisis, the gods of allies, and +the good faith of treaties, demanded it; that the gods would never +afford them a like opportunity of obliging so powerful a state and so +near a neighbour. It was resolved that assistance should be sent the +young men were enrolled, and arms given them. On their way to Rome at +break of day, at a distance they exhibited the appearance of enemies. +The AEquans or Volscians were thought to be coming. Then, after the +groundless alarm was removed, they were admitted into the city and +descended in a body into the forum. There Publius Valerius, having +left his colleague with the guards of the gates, was now drawing up +his forces in order of battle. The great influence of the man produced +an effect on the people, when he declared that, when the Capitol was +recovered, and the city restored to peace, if they allowed themselves +to be convinced what hidden guile was contained in the law proposed by +the tribunes, he, mindful of his ancestors, mindful of his surname, +and remembering that the duty of protecting the people had been handed +down to him as hereditary by his ancestors, would offer no obstruction +to the meeting of the people. Following him, as their leader, in spite +of the fruitless opposition of the tribunes, they marched up the +ascent of the Capitoline Hill. The Tusculan troops also joined them. +Allies and citizens vied with each other as to which of them should +appropriate to themselves the honour of recovering the citadel. Each +leader encouraged his own men. Then the enemy began to be alarmed, and +placed no dependence on anything but their position. While they were +in this state of alarm, the Romans and allies advanced to attack them. +They had already burst into the porch of the temple, when Publius +Valerius was slain while cheering on the fight at the head of his men. +Publius Volumnius, a man of consular rank, saw him falling. Having +directed his men to cover the body, he himself rushed forward to +take the place and duty of the consul. Owing to their excitement and +impetuosity, this great misfortune passed unnoticed by the soldiers, +they conquered before they perceived that they were fighting without a +leader. Many of the exiles defiled the temple with their blood; many +were taken prisoners: Herdonius was slain. Thus the Capitol was +recovered. With respect to the prisoners, punishment was inflicted on +each according to his station, as he was a freeman or a slave. The +Tusculans received the thanks of the Romans: the Capitol was cleansed +and purified. The commons are stated to have thrown every man a +farthing into the consul's house, that he might be buried with more +splendid obsequies. + +Order being thus established, the tribunes then urged the patricians +to fulfill the Promise given by Publius Valerius; they pressed on +Claudius to free the shade of his colleague from breach of faith, and +to allow the matter of the law to proceed. The consul asserted that he +would not suffer the discussion of the law to proceed, until he had +appointed a colleague to assist him. These disputes lasted until the +time of the elections for the substitution of a consul. In the month +of December, by the most strenuous exertions of the patricians, Lucius +Quinctius Cincinnatus, Caeso's father, was elected consul, to enter +upon office without delay. The commons were dismayed at being about to +have for consul a man incensed against them, powerful by the support +of the patricians, by his own merit, and by reason of his three sons, +not one of whom was inferior to Caeso in greatness of spirit, while +they were his superiors in the exercise of prudence and moderation, +whenever occasion required. When he entered upon office, in his +frequent harangues from the tribunal, he was not more vehement in +restraining the commons than in reproving the senate, owing to the +listlessness of which body the tribunes of the commons, now become a +standing institution, exercised regal authority, by means of their +readiness of speech and prosecutions, not as if in a republic of the +Roman people, but as if in an ill-regulated household. That with his +son Caeso, valour, constancy, all the splendid qualifications of youth +in war and in peace, had been driven and exiled from the city of Rome: +that talkative and turbulent men, sowers of discord, twice and even +thrice re-elected tribunes by the vilest intrigues, lived in the +enjoyment of regal irresponsibility. "Does that Aulus Verginius," said +he, "deserve less punishment than Appius Herdonius, because he was not +in the Capitol? Considerably more, by Hercules, if any one will look +at the matter fairly. Herdonius, if nothing else, by avowing himself +an enemy, thereby as good as gave you notice to take up arms: this +man, by denying the existence of war, took arms out of your hands, and +exposed you defenceless to the attack of slaves and exiles. And did +you--I will speak with all due respect for Gaius Claudius and +Publius Valerius, now no more--did you decide to advance against the +Capitoline Hill before you expelled those enemies from the forum? I +feel ashamed in the sight of gods and men. When the enemy were in the +citadel, in the Capitol, when the leader of the exiles and slaves, +after profaning everything, took up his residence in the shrine of +Jupiter, best and greatest, arms were taken up at Tusculum sooner +than at Rome. It was a matter of doubt whether Lucius Mamilius, the +Tusculan leader, or Publius Valerius and Gaius Claudius, the consuls, +recovered the Roman citadel, and we, who formerly did not suffer the +Latins to touch arms, not even in their own defence, when they had the +enemy on their very frontiers, should have been taken and destroyed +now, had not the Latins taken up arms of their own accord. Tribunes, +is this bringing aid to the commons, to expose them in a defenceless +state to be butchered by the enemy? I suppose, if any one, even the +humblest individual of your commons--which portion you have as it were +broken off from the rest of the state, and created a country and a +commonwealth of your own--if any one of these were to bring you word +that his house was beset by an armed band of slaves, you would think +that assistance should be afforded him: was then Jupiter, best +and greatest, when hemmed in by the arms of exiles and of slaves, +deserving of no human aid? And do these persons claim to be considered +sacred and inviolable, to whom the gods themselves are neither sacred +nor inviolable? Well but, loaded as you are with crimes against both +gods and men, you proclaim that you will pass your law this year. +Verily then, on the day I was created consul, it was a disastrous act +of the state, much more so even than the day when Publius Valerius +the consul fell, if you shall pass it. Now, first of all," said he, +"Quirites, it is the intention of myself and of my colleague to march +the legions against the Volscians and the Aequans. I know not by what +fatality we find the gods more propitious when we are at war than in +peace. How great the danger from those states would have been, had +they known that the Capitol was besieged by exiles, it is better to +conjecture from what is past, than to learn by actual experience." + +The consul's harangue had a great effect on the commons: the +patricians, recovering their spirits, believed the state +re-established. The other consul, a more ardent partner than promoter +of a measure, readily allowing his colleague to take the lead in +measures of such importance, claimed to himself his share of the +consular duty in carrying these measures into execution. Then the +tribunes, mocking these declarations as empty, went on to ask how the +consuls were going to lead out an army, seeing that no one would allow +them to hold a levy? "But," replied Quinctius, "we have no need of a +levy, since, at the time Publius Valerius gave arms to the commons to +recover the Capitol, they all took an oath to him, that they would +assemble at the command of the consul, and would not depart without +his permission. We therefore publish an order that all of you, who +have sworn, attend to-morrow under arms at the Lake Regillus." The +tribunes then began to quibble, and wanted to absolve the people from +their obligation, asserting that Quinctius was a private person at the +time when they were bound by the oath. But that disregard of the gods, +which possesses the present generation, had not yet gained ground: +nor did every one accommodate oaths and laws to his own purposes, by +interpreting them as it suited him, but rather adapted his own conduct +to them. Wherefore the tribunes, as there was no hope of obstructing +the matter, attempted to delay the departure of the army the more +earnestly on this account, because a report had gone out, both that +the augurs had been ordered to attend at the Lake Regillius and that a +place was to be consecrated, where business might be transacted with +the people by auspices: and whatever had been passed at Rome by +tribunician violence, might be repealed there in the assembly.[28] +That all would order what the consuls desired: for that there was no +appeal at a greater distance than a mile [29] from the city: and that +the tribunes, if they should come there, would, like the rest of the +Quirites, be subjected to the consular authority. This alarmed them: +but the greatest anxiety which affected their minds was because +Quinctius frequently declared that he would not hold an election of +consuls. That the malady of the state was not of an ordinary nature, +so that it could be stopped by the ordinary remedies. That the +commonwealth required a dictator, so that whoever attempted to disturb +the condition of the state, might feel that from the dictatorship +there was no appeal. + +The senate was assembled in the Capitol. Thither the tribunes came +with the commons in a state of great consternation: the multitude, +with loud clamours, implored the protection, now of the consuls, +now of the patricians: nor could they move the consul from his +determination, until the tribunes promised that they would submit to +the authority of the senate. Then, on the consul's laying before them +the demands of the tribunes and commons, decrees of the senate were +passed: that neither should the tribunes propose the law during that +year, nor should the consuls lead out the army from the city--that, +for the future, the senate decided that it was against the interests +of the commonwealth that the same magistrates should be continued +and the same tribunes be reappointed. The consuls conformed to +the authority of the senate: the tribunes were reappointed, +notwithstanding the remonstrance of the consuls. The patricians also, +that they might not yield to the commons in any particular, themselves +proposed to re-elect Lucius Quinctius consul. No address of the consul +was delivered with greater warmth during the entire year. "Can I be +surprised," said he, "if your authority with the people is held in +contempt, O conscript fathers? It is you yourselves who are weakening +it. Forsooth, because the commons have violated a decree of the +senate, by reappointing their magistrates, you yourselves also wish +it to be violated, that you may not be outdone by the populace in +rashness; as if greater power in the state consisted in the possession +of greater inconstancy and liberty of action; for it is certainly more +inconstant and greater folly to render null and void one's own decrees +and resolutions, than those of others. Do you, O conscript fathers, +imitate the unthinking multitude; and do you, who should be an example +to others, prefer to transgress by the example of others, rather +than that others should act rightly by yours, provided only I do not +imitate the tribunes, nor allow myself to be declared consul, contrary +to the decree of the senate. But as for you, Gaius Claudius, I +recommend that you, as well as myself, restrain the Roman people from +this licentious spirit, and that you be persuaded of this, as far as I +am concerned, that I shall take it in such a spirit, that I shall not +consider that my attainment of office has been obstructed by you, but +that the glory of having declined the honour has been augmented, and +the odium, which would threaten me if it were continued, lessened." +Thereupon they issued this order jointly: That no one should support +the election of Lucius Quinctius as consul: if any one should do so, +that they would not allow the vote. + +The consuls elected were Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (for the third +time), and Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis. The census was taken during +that year; it was a matter of religious scruple that the lustrum +should be closed, on account of the seizure of the Capitol and the +death of the consul. In the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Lucius +Cornelius, disturbances woke out immediately at the beginning of +the year. The tribunes were urging on the commons. The Latins and +Hernicans brought word that a formidable war was threatening on the +part of the Volscians and AEquans; that the troops of the Volscians +were now in the neighbourhood of Antium. Great apprehension was also +entertained, that the colony itself would revolt: and with difficulty +the tribunes were prevailed upon to allow the war to be attended to +first. The consuls divided their respective spheres of action. Fabius +was commissioned to march the legions to Antium: to Cornelius was +assigned the duty of keeping guard at Rome, lest any portion of the +enemy's troops, as was the practice of the Aequans, should advance to +commit depredations. The Hernicans and Latins were ordered to supply +soldiers in accordance with the treaty; and of the army two thirds +consisted of allies, the remainder of Roman citizens. When the allies +arrived on the appointed day, the consul pitched his camp outside the +porta Capena.[30] Then, after the army had been reviewed, he set out +for Antium, and encamped not far from the town and fixed quarters +of the enemy. There, when the Volscians, not venturing to risk an +engagement, because the contingent from the Aequans had not yet +arrived, were making preparations to see how they might protect +themselves quietly within their ramparts, on the following day Fabius +drew up not one mixed army of allies and citizens, but three bodies +of the three states separately around the enemy's works. He himself +occupied the centre with the Roman legions. He ordered them to watch +for the signal for action, so that at the same time both the allies +might begin the action together, and retire together if he should give +orders to sound a retreat. He also posted the proper cavalry of each +division behind the front line. Having thus assailed the camp at three +different points, he surrounded it: and, pressing on from every side, +he dislodged the Volscians, who were unable to withstand his attack, +from the rampart. Having then crossed the fortifications, he drove out +from the camp the crowd who were panic-stricken and inclining to make +for one direction. Upon this the cavalry, who could not have easily +passed over the rampart, having stood by till then as mere spectators +of the fight, came up with them while flying in disorder over the +open plain, and enjoyed a share of the victory, by cutting down the +affrighted troops. Great was the slaughter of the fugitives, both +in the camp and outside the lines; but the booty was still greater, +because the enemy were scarcely able to carry off their arms with +them; and the entire army would have been destroyed, had not the woods +covered them in their flight. + +While these events were taking place at Antium, the Aequans, in the +meanwhile, sending forward the flower of their youth surprised the +citadel of Tusculum by night: and with the rest of their army sat down +at no great distance from the walls of Tusculutn, so as to divide the +forces of the enemy.[31] News of this being quickly brought to Rome, +and from Rome to the camp at Antium, affected the Romans no less than +if it had been announced that the Capitol was taken; so recent was +the service rendered by the Tusculans, and the very similarity of the +danger seemed to demand a return of the aid that had been afforded. +Fabius, giving up all thought of everything else, removed the booty +hastily from the camp to Antium: and, having left a small garrison +there, hurried on his army by forced marches to Tusculum. The soldiers +were allowed to take with them nothing but their arms, and whatever +baked provision was at hand. The consul Cornelius sent up provisions +from Rome. The war was carried on at Tusculum for several months. With +one part of his army the consul assailed the camp of the Aequans; +he had given part to the Tusculans to aid in the recovery of their +citadel. They could never have made their way up to it by force: at +length famine caused the enemy to withdraw from it. When matters +subsequently came to extremities, they were all sent under the yoke, +[32] by the Tusculans, unarmed and naked. While returning home in +ignominious flight, they were overtaken by the Roman consul at +Algidum, and cut to pieces to a man.[33] After this victory, having +marched back his army to Columen (so is the place named), he pitched +his camp there. The other consul also, as soon as the Roman walls +ceased to be in danger, now that the enemy had been defeated, set out +from Rome. Thus the consuls, having entered the territories of the +enemies on two different sides, in eager rivalry plundered the +territory of the Volscians on the one hand, and of the Aequans on the +other. I find it stated by several writers that the people of Antium +revolted during the same year. That Lucius Cornelius, the consul, +conducted that war and took the town; I would not venture to assert +it for certain, because no mention is made of the matter in the older +writers. + +This war being concluded, a tribunician war at home alarmed the +senate. The tribunes held that the detention of the army abroad was +due to a fraudulent motive: that that deception was intended to +prevent the passing of the law; that they, however, would none +the less go through with the matter they had undertaken. Publius +Lucretius, however, the prefect of the city, so far prevailed, that +the proceedings of the tribunes were postponed till the arrival of the +consuls. A new cause of disturbance had also arisen. The quaestors, +[34] Aulus Cornelius and Quintus Servilius, appointed a day of trial +for Marcus Volscius, because he had come forward as a manifestly false +witness against Caeso. For it was established by many proofs, that the +brother of Volscius, from the time he first fell ill, had not only +never been seen in public, but that he had not even left his bed after +he had been attacked by illness, and that he had died of a wasting +disease of several months' standing; and that at the time to which the +witness had referred the commission of the crime, Caeso had not +been seen at Rome: while those who had served in the army with him +positively stated that at that time he had regularly attended at his +post along with them without any leave of absence. Many, on their own +account, proposed to Volscius to refer the matter to the decision of +an arbitrator. As he did not venture to go to trial, all these points +coinciding rendered the condemnation of Volscius no less certain than +that of Caeso had been on the testimony of Volscius. The tribunes were +the cause of delay, who said that they would not suffer the quaestors +to hold the assembly concerning the accused, unless it were first held +concerning the law. Thus both matters were spun out till the arrival +of the consuls. When they entered the city in triumph with their +victorious army, because nothing was said about the law, many thought +that the tribunes were struck with dismay. But they in reality (for +it was now the close of the year), being eager to obtain a fourth +tribuneship, had turned away their efforts from the law to the +discussion of the elections; and when the consuls, with the object of +lessening their dignity, opposed the continuation of their tribuneship +with no less earnestness than if the law in question had been +proposed, the victory in the contest was on the side of the tribunes. + +In the same year peace was granted to the Aequans on their suing for +it. The census, begun in the preceding year, was completed: this is +said to have been the tenth lustrum that was completed from the date +of the foundation of the city. The number of citizens rated was one +hundred and seventeen thousand three hundred and nineteen. The consuls +obtained great glory this year both at home and in war, because they +established peace abroad, while at home, though the state was not in a +condition of absolute harmony, yet it was less harassed by dissensions +than at other times. + +Lucius Minucius and Gaius Nautius being next elected consuls took up +the two causes which remained undecided from the preceding year. As +before, the consuls obstructed the law, the tribunes the trial of +Volscius: but in the new quaestors there was greater power and greater +influence. With Marcus Valerius, son of Manius and grandson of Volesus +Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, was appointed +quaestor. Since Caeso could neither be restored to the Quinctian +family, nor to the state, though a most promising youth, did he, +justly, and as in duty bound, prosecute the false witness who had +deprived an innocent person of the power of pleading his cause. When +Verginius, more than any of the tribunes, busied himself about the +passing of the law, the space of two months was allowed the consuls to +examine into the law: on condition that, when they had satisfied the +people as to what secret designs were concealed under it, [35] they +should then allow them to give their votes. The granting of this +respite established tranquility in the city. The Aequans, however, did +not allow them long rest: in violation of the treaty which had been +made with the Romans the year before, they conferred the chief command +on Gracchus Cloelius. He was then by far the chief man among the +Aequans. Under the command of Gracchus they advanced with hostile +depredations into the district of Labici, from thence into that of +Tusculum, and, laden with booty, pitched their camp at Algidum. To +that camp came Quintus Fabius, Publius Volumnius, Aulus Postumius, +ambassadors from Rome, to complain of the wrongs committed, and to +demand restitution in accordance with the treaty. The general of the +Aequans commanded them to deliver to the oak the message they brought +from the Roman senate; that he in the meantime would attend to +other matters. An oak, a mighty tree, whose shade formed a cool +resting-place, overhung the general's tent. Then one of the +ambassadors, when departing, cried out: "Let both this consecrated oak +and all the gods hear that the treaty has been broken by you, and +both lend a favourable ear to our complaints now, and assist our arms +presently, when we shall avenge the rights of gods and men that have +been violated simultaneously." As soon as the ambassadors returned +to Rome, the senate ordered one of the consuls to lead his army into +Algidum against Gracchus, to the other they assigned as his sphere of +action the devastation of the country of the Aequans. The tribunes, +after their usual manner, attempted to obstruct the levy, and probably +would have eventually succeeded in doing so, had not a new and +additional cause of alarm suddenly arisen. + +A large force of Sabines, committing dreadful devastation advanced +almost up to the walls of the city. The fields were laid waste, the +city was smitten with terror. Then the commons cheerfully took up +arms; two large armies were raised, the remonstrance of the tribunes +being of no avail. Nautius led one against the Sabines, and, having +pitched his camp at Eretum,[36] by trifling incursions, mostly by +night, he so desolated the Sabine territory that, in comparison with +it, the Roman borders seemed almost undamaged by the war. Minucius +neither had the same good fortune nor displayed the same energy in +conducting his operations: for after he had pitched his camp at no +great distance from the enemy, without having experienced any reverse +of importance, he kept himself through fear within the camp. When the +enemy perceived this, their boldness increased, as usually happens, +from the fears of others; and, having attacked his camp by night, when +open force availed little, they drew lines of circumvallation around +it on the following day. Before these could close the means of egress, +by a rampart thrown up on all sides, five horsemen, despatched between +the enemies' posts, brought news to Rome, that the consul and his +army were besieged. Nothing could have happened so unexpected nor so +unlooked-for. Accordingly, the panic and the alarm were as great as +if the enemy were besieging the city, not the camp. They summoned +the consul Nautius; and when there seemed to be but insufficient +protection in him, and it was determined that a dictator should be +appointed to retrieve their shattered fortunes, Lucius Quinctius +Cincinnatus was appointed by universal consent. + +It is worth while for those persons who despise all things human in +comparison with riches, and who suppose that there is no room either +for exalted honour, or for virtue, except where riches abound in great +profusion, to listen to the following: Lucius Quinctius, the sole hope +of the empire of the Roman people, cultivated a farm of four acres on +the other side of the Tiber, which is called the Quinctian meadows, +exactly opposite the place where the dock-yard now is. There, whether +leaning on a stake while digging a trench, or while ploughing, at any +rate, as is certain, while engaged on some work in the fields, after +mutual exchange of salutations had taken place, being requested by +the ambassadors to put on his toga, and listen to the commands of the +senate (with wishes that it might turn out well both for him and the +commonwealth), he was astonished, and, asking whether all was well, +bade his wife Racilia immediately bring his toga from the hut. As soon +as he had put it on and come forward, after having first wiped off the +dust and sweat, the ambassadors congratulating him, united in saluting +him as dictator: they summoned him into the city, and told him what +terror prevailed in the army. A vessel was prepared for Quinctius by +order of the government, and his three sons, having come out to +meet him, received him on landing at the other side; then his other +relatives and his friends: then the greater part of the patricians. +Accompanied by this numerous attendance, the lictors going before him, +he was conducted to his residence.[37] There was a numerous concourse +of the commons also: but they by no means looked on Quinctius with the +same satisfaction, as they considered both that he was vested with +excessive authority, and was likely to prove still more arbitrary +by the exercise of that same authority. During that night, however, +nothing was done except that guards were posted in the city. + +On the next day the dictator, having entered the forum before +daylight, appointed as his master of the horse Lucius Tarquitius, a +man of patrician family, but who, though he had served his campaigns +on foot by reason of his scanty means, was yet considered by far the +most capable in military matters among the Roman youth. With his +master of the horse he entered the assembly, proclaimed a suspension +of public business, ordered the shops to be closed throughout the +city, and forbade any one to attend to any private affairs. Then he +commanded all who were of military age to attend under arms, in the +Campus Martius, before sunset, with dressed provisions for five days +and twelve stakes apiece: those whose age rendered them unfit for +active service were ordered to prepare victuals for the soldiers near +them, while the latter were getting their arms ready, and procuring +stakes. Accordingly, the young men ran in all directions to procure +the stakes; they took them whatever was nearest to each: no one +was prevented from doing so: all attended readily according to the +dictator's order. Then, the troops being drawn up, not more suitably +for a march than for an engagement, should occasion require it, the +dictator himself marched at the head of the legions, the master of the +horse at the head of his cavalry. In both bodies such exhortations +were delivered as circumstances required: that they should quicken +their pace; that there was need of despatch, that they might reach the +enemy by night; that the consul and the Roman army were besieged; that +they had now been shut up for three days; that it was uncertain what +each day or night might bring with it; that the issues of the most +important affairs often depended on a moment of time. The soldiers, to +please their leaders, exclaimed among themselves: "Standard-bearer, +hasten; follow, soldier." At midnight they reached Algidum: and, as +soon as they perceived that they were near the enemy, they halted. + +There the dictator, riding about, and having observe as far as could +be ascertained by night, what the extent of the camp was, and what +was its nature, commanded the tribunes of the soldiers to order the +baggage to be thrown into one place, and that the soldiers with their +arms and bundles of stakes should return to their ranks. His orders +were executed. Then, with the regularity which they had observed on +the march, he drew the entire army in a long column around the enemy's +camp, and directed that, when the signal was given, they should all +raise a shout, and that, on the shout being raised, each man should +throw up a trench before his post, and fix his palisade. The orders +being issued, the signal followed: the soldiers carried out their +instructions; the shout echoed around the enemy: it then passed beyond +the camp of the enemy, and reached that of the consul: in the one it +occasioned panic, in the other great joy. The Romans, observing +to each other with exultation that this was the shout of their +countrymen, and that aid was at hand, took the initiative, and from +their watch-guards and outposts dismayed the enemy. The consul +declared that there must be no delay; that by that shouts not only +their arrival was intimated, but that hostilities were already begun +by their friends; and that it would be a wonder if the enemy's camp +were not attacked on the farther side. He therefore ordered his men to +take up arms and follow him. The battle was begun during the night. +They gave notice by a shout to the dictator's legions that on that +side also the decisive moment had arrived. The AEquans were now +preparing to prevent the works from being drawn around them, when, +the battle being begun by the enemy from within, having turned their +attention from those employed on the fortifications to those who were +fighting on the inside, lest a sally should be made through the centre +of their camp, they left the night free for the completion of the +work, and continued the fight with the consul till daylight. At +daybreak they were now encompassed by the dictator's works, and were +scarcely able to maintain the fight against one army. Then their lines +were attacked by the army of Quinctius, which, immediately after +completing its work, returned to arms. Here a new engagement pressed +on them: the former one had in no wise slackened. Then, as the danger +that beset them on both sides pressed them hard, turning from fighting +to entreaties, they implored the dictator on the one hand, the consul +on the other, not to make the victory their total destruction, and to +suffer them to depart without arms. They were ordered by the consul to +apply to the dictator: he, incensed against them, added disgrace to +defeat. He gave orders that Gracchus Cloelius, their general, and the +other leaders should be brought to him in chains, and that the town of +Corbio should be evacuated; he added that he did not desire the +lives of the AEquans: that they were at liberty to depart; but that +a confession might at last be wrung from them that their nation was +defeated and subdued, they would have to pass under the yoke. The yoke +was formed of three spears, two fixed in the ground, and one tied +across between the upper ends of them. Under this yoke the dictator +sent the AEquans. + +The enemy's camp, which was full of all their belongings--for he +had sent them out of the camp half naked--having been taken, he +distributed all the booty among his own soldiers only: rebuking the +consul's army and the consul himself, he said: "Soldiers, you shall +not enjoy any portion of the spoil taken from that enemy to whom you +yourselves nearly became a spoil: and you, Lucius Minucius, until +you begin to assume a spirit worthy of a consul, shall command these +legions only as lieutenant." Minucius accordingly resigned his office +of consul, and remained with the army, as he had been commanded. But +so meekly obedient were the minds of men at that time to authority +combined with superior merit, that this army, remembering his +kindness, rather than their own disgrace, both voted a golden crown +of a pound weight to the dictator, and saluted him as their preserver +when he set out. The senate at Rome, convened by Quintus Fabius, +prefect of the city, ordered Quinctius to enter the city in triumph, +in the order of march in which he was coming. The leaders of the enemy +were led before his car: the military standards were carried before +him: his army followed laden with spoil. Banquets are said to have +been spread before the houses of all, and the soldiers, partaking of +the entertainment, followed the chariot with the triumphal hymn and +the usual jests,[38] after the manner of revellers. On that day the +freedom of the state was granted to Lucius Mamilius of Tusculum, amid +universal approbation. The dictator would have immediately laid down +his office had not the assembly for the trial of Marcus Volscius, the +false witness, detained him; the fear of the dictator prevented the +tribunes from obstructing it. Volscius was condemned and went into +exile at Lanuvium. Quinctius laid down his dictatorship on the +sixteenth day, having been invested with it for six months. During +those days the consul Nautius engaged the Sabines at Eretum with +distinguished success: besides the devastation of their lands, this +additional blow also befell the Sabines. Fabius was sent to Algidum as +successor to Minucius. Toward the end of the year the tribunes began +to agitate concerning the law; but, because two armies were away, the +patricians carried their point, that no proposal should be made before +the people. The commons succeeded in electing the same tribunes for +the fifth time. It is said that wolves seen in the Capitol were driven +away by dogs, and that on account of that prodigy the Capitol was +purified. Such were the transactions of that year. + +Quintus Minucius and Gaius Horatius Pulvillus were the next consuls. +At the beginning of this year, when there was peace abroad, the same +tribunes and the same law occasioned disturbances at home; and matters +would have proceeded further--so highly were men's minds inflamed-had +not news been brought, as if for the very purpose, that by a night +attack of the AEquans the garrison at Corbio had been cut off. The +consuls convened the senate: they were ordered to raise a hasty levy +and to lead it to Algidum. Then, the struggle about the law being +abandoned, a new dispute arose regarding the levy. The consular +authority was on the point of being overpowered by tribunician +influence, when an additional cause of alarm arose: that the Sabine +army had made a descent upon Roman territory to commit depredations +and from thence was advancing toward the city. This fear influenced +the tribunes to allow the soldiers to be enrolled, not without a +stipulation, however, that since they themselves had been foiled for +five years, and as the present college was but inadequate protection +for the commons, ten tribunes of the people should henceforward be +elected. Necessity extorted this concession from the patricians: they +only exacted this proviso, that they should not hereafter see the same +men tribunes. The election for the tribunes was held immediately, lest +that measure also, like others, might remain unfulfilled after the +war. In the thirty-sixth year after the first tribunes, ten were +elected, two from each class; and provision was made that they should +be elected in this manner for the future. The levy being then held, +Minucius marched out against the Sabines, but found no enemy. +Horatius, when the AEquans, having put the garrison at Corbio to the +sword, had taken Ortona also, fought a battle at Algidum, in which he +slew a great number of the enemy and drove them not only from Algidum, +but from Corbio and Ortona. He also razed Corbio to the ground for +having betrayed the garrison. + +Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius were next elected consuls. +Quiet prevailed at home and abroad. The people were distressed for +provisions on account of the excessive rains. A law was proposed to +make Mount Aventine public property. [39] The same tribunes of the +people were re-elected. In the following year, Titus Romilius and +Gaius Veturius being consuls, they strongly recommended the law in all +their harangues, declaring that they were ashamed that their number +had been increased to no purpose, it that matter should be neglected +during their two years in the same manner as it had been during the +whole preceding five. While they were most busily employed in these +matters, an alarming message came from Tusculum that the AEquans were +in Tusculan territory. The recent services of that state made them +ashamed of delaying relief. Both the consuls were sent with an army, +and found the enemy in their usual post in Algidum. There a battle was +fought: upward of seven thousand of the enemy were slain, the rest +were put to flight: immense booty was obtained. This the consuls sold +on account of the low state of the treasury. This proceeding, however, +brought them into odium with the army, and also afforded the tribunes +material for bringing a charge against the consuls before the commons. +Accordingly, as soon as they went out of office, in the consulship of +Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius, a day of trial was appointed for +Romilius by Gaius Calvius Cicero, tribune of the people; for Veturius, +by Lucius Alienus plebeian aedile. They were both condemned, to the +great mortification of the patricians: Romilius to pay ten thousand +asses, Veturius fifteen thousand. Nor did this misfortune of their +predecessors render the new consuls more timid. They said that on the +one hand they might be condemned, and that on the other the commons +and tribunes could not carry the law. Then, having abandoned the +law, which, by being repeatedly brought forward, had now lost +consideration, the tribunes, adopted a milder method of proceeding +with the patricians. Let them, said they, at length put an end to +disputes. If laws drawn up by plebeians displeased them, at least let +them allow legislators to be chosen in common, both from the commons +and from the patricians, who might propose measures advantageous to +both parties, and such as would tend to the establishment of liberty +on principles of equality. The patricians did not disdain to accept +the proposal. They claimed that no one should propose laws, except +he were a patrician. When they agreed with respect to the laws, and +differed only in regard to the proposer, ambassadors were sent to +Athens, Spurius Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius +Camerinus, who were ordered to copy out the celebrated laws of Solon, +and to make themselves acquainted with the institutions, customs, and +laws of the other states of Greece. + +The year was peaceful as regards foreign wars; the following one, when +Publius Curiatius and Sextus Quinctilius were consuls, was still more +quiet, owing to the tribunes observing uninterrupted silence, which +was occasioned in the first place by their waiting for the return of +the ambassadors who had gone to Athens, and for the account of the +foreign laws; in the next place, two grievous calamities arose at the +same time, famine and pestilence, destructive to man, and equally +so to cattle. The lands were left desolate; the city exhausted by +a constant succession of deaths. Many illustrious families were in +mourning. The Flamen Quirinalis, [40]Servius Cornelius, died; also the +augur, Gaius Horatius Pulvillus; in his place the augurs elected Gaius +Veturius, and that with all the more eagerness, because he had been +condemned by the commons. The consul Quinctilius died, and four +tribunes of the people. The year was rendered a melancholy one by +these manifold disasters; as far as foreign foes were concerned there +was perfect quiet. Then Gaius Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus +were elected consuls. Nor in that year was there any foreign war: but +disturbances arose at home. The ambassadors had now returned with the +Athenian laws; the tribunes therefore insisted the more urgently that +a beginning should at length be made of compiling the laws. It was +resolved that decemvirs should be elected to rule without appeal, and +that there should be no other magistrate during that year. There +was, for a considerable time, a dispute whether plebeians should +be admitted among them: at length the point was conceded to the +patricians, provided that the Icilian law regarding the Aventine and +the other devoting laws were not repealed. + +In the three hundred and second year after the foundation of Rome, the +form of government was a second time changed, the supreme power being +transferred from consuls to decemvirs as it had passed before from +kings to consuls. The change was less remarkable, because not of long +duration; for the joyous commencement of that government afterward ran +riot through excess. On that account the sooner did the arrangement +fall to the ground, and the practice was revived, that the name and +authority of consuls should be committed to two persons. The decemvirs +appointed were, Appius Claudius, Titus Genucius, Publius Sestius, +Lucius Veturius, Gaius Julius, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius, +Publius Curiatius, Titus Romilius, Spurius Postumius. On Claudius +and Genucius, because they had been consuls elect for that year, the +honour was conferred in compensation for the honour of the consulate; +and on Sestius, one of the consuls of the former year, because he +had proposed the plan itself to the senate against the will of his +colleague. Next to these were considered the three ambassadors who had +gone to Athens, so that the honour might serve at once as a recompense +for so distant an embassy, while at the same time they considered that +persons acquainted with the foreign laws would be of use in drawing up +the new code of justice. The others made up the number. They say that +also persons advanced in years were appointed by the last suffrages, +in order that they might oppose with less warmth the opinions of +others. The direction of the entire government rested with Appius +through the favour of the commons, and he had assumed a demeanour +so different that, from being a severe and harsh persecutor of the +people, he became suddenly a courter of the commons, and strove to +catch every breath of popular favour. They administered justice to the +people individually every tenth day. On that day the twelve fasces +attended the administrator of justice; one officer attended each of +his nine colleagues, and in the midst of the singular unanimity that +existed among themselves--a harmony that sometimes proves prejudicial +to private persons--the strictest equity was shown to others. In proof +of their moderation it will be enough to instance a single case as an +example. Though they had been appointed to govern without appeal, +yet, upon a dead body being found buried in the house of Publius +Sestius,[41] a man of patrician rank, and produced in the assembly, +Gaius Julius, a decemvir, appointed a day of trial for Sestius, in a +matter at once clear and heinous, and appeared before the people +as prosecutor of the man whose lawful judge he was if accused: and +relinquished his right,[42] so that he might add what had been taken +from the power of the office to the liberty of the people. + +While highest and lowest alike obtained from them this prompt +administration of justice, undefiled, as if from an oracle, at the +same time their attention was devoted to the framing of laws; and, the +ten tables being proposed amid the intense expectation of all, they +summoned the people to an assembly: and ordered them to go and read +the laws that were exhibited, [43] and Heaven grant it might prove +favourable, advantageous, and of happy result to the commonwealth, +themselves, and their children. That they had equalized the rights of +all, both the highest and the lowest, as far as could be devised by +the abilities of ten men: that the understanding and counsels of a +greater number had greater weight; let them turn over in their minds +each particular among themselves, discuss it in conversation, and +bring forward for public discussion whatever might be superfluous or +defective under each particular: that the Roman people should have +such laws only as the general consent might appear not so much to have +ratified when proposed as to have itself proposed. When they seemed +sufficiently corrected in accordance with public opinion regarding +each section of the laws as it was published, the laws of the ten +tables were passed at the assembly voting by centuries, which, even at +the present time, amid the immense heap of laws crowded one upon +the other, still remain the source of all public and private +jurisprudence. A rumour then spread that two tables were needed, on +the addition of which a digest, as it were, of the whole Roman law +could be completed. The desire for this gave rise, as the day of +election approached, to a request that decemvirs be appointed again. +The commons by this time, besides that they detested the name +of consuls no less than that of kings, did not even require the +tribunician aid, as the decemvirs in turn allowed an appeal. + +But when the assembly for the election of decemvirs was proclaimed for +the third market-day, the flame of ambition burst out so +powerfully that even the first men of the state began to canvass +individuals--fearing, I suppose, that the possession of such high +authority might become accessible to persons not sufficiently worthy +if the post were left unoccupied by themselves--humbly soliciting, +from those very commons with whom they had often contended, an honour +which had been opposed by them with all their might. The fact of their +dignity being now laid aside in a contest, at their time of life, and +after they had filled such high official positions, stimulated the +exertions of Appius Claudius. You would not have known whether to +reckon him among the decemvirs or the candidates; he resembled at +times more closely one canvassing for office than one invested with +it; he aspersed the nobles, extolled all the most unimportant and +insignificant candidates; surrounded by the Duellii and Icilii who had +been tribunes, he himself bustled about the forum, through their means +he recommended himself to the commons; until even his colleagues, who +till then had been devoted to him heart and soul, turned their eyes on +him, wondering what he was about. It was evident to them that there +was no sincerity in it; that such affability amid such pride would +surely prove not disinterested. That this excessive lowering of +himself, and condescending to familiarity with private citizens, was +characteristic not so much of one eager to retire from office, as of +one seeking the means of continuing that office. Not daring openly to +oppose his wishes, they set about mitigating his ardour by humouring +it. They by common consent conferred on him, as being the youngest, +the office of presiding at the elections. This was an artifice, to +prevent his appointing himself; which no one ever did, except the +tribunes of the people, and that with the very worst precedent. He, +however, declaring that, with the favour of fortune, he would preside +at the elections, seized upon what should have been an obstacle as a +lucky opportunity: and having succeeded by a coalition in keeping out +of office the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, and his +own uncle Gaius Claudius, a man most steadfast in the cause of the +nobility, and other citizens of equal eminence, he secured +the appointment as decemvirs of men by no means their equals +distinction--himself in the first instance, a proceeding which +honourable men disapproved of greatly, as no one believed that he +would have ventured to do it. With him were elected Marcus Cornelius +Maluginensis, Marcus Sergius, Lucius Minucius, Quintus Fabius +Vibulanus, Quintus Poetilius, Titus Antonius Merenda, Caeso Duilius, +Spurius Oppius Cornicen, Manius Rabuleius. + +This was the end of Appius's playing a part at variance with his +disposition. Henceforward he began to live according to his natural +character, and to mould to his own temper his new colleagues before +they entered upon office. They daily held meetings in private: then, +instructed in their unruly designs, which they concocted apart from +others, now no longer dissembling their arrogance, difficult of +access, captious to all who conversed with them, they protracted the +matter until the ides of May. The ides of May was at that time the +usual period for beginning office. Accordingly, at the attainment +of their magistracy, they rendered the first day of their office +remarkable by threats that inspired great terror. For, while the +preceding decemvirs had observed the rule, that only one should have +the fasces, and that this emblem of royalty should pass to all in +rotation, to each in his turn, lo! On a sudden they all came forth, +each with twelve fasces. One hundred and twenty lictors filled the +forum, and carried before them the axes tied up with the fasces,[44] +giving the explanation that it was of no consequence that the axe +should be taken away, since they had been appointed without appeal. +There appeared to be ten kings, and terrors were multiplied not only +among the humblest individuals, but even among the principal men +of the patricians, who thought that an excuse for the beginning of +bloodshed was being sought for: so that, if any one should have +uttered a word that hinted at liberty, either in the senate or in +a meeting of the people, the rods and axes would also instantly be +brought forward, for the purpose of intimidating the rest. For, +besides that there was no protection in the people, as the right of +appeal had been abolished, they had also by mutual consent prohibited +interference with each other: whereas the preceding decemvirs had +allowed the decisions pronounced by themselves to be amended by appeal +to any one of their colleagues, and had referred to the people some +points which seemed naturally to come within their own jurisdiction. +For a considerable time the terror seemed equally distributed among +all ranks; gradually it began to be directed entirely against the +commons. While they spared the patricians, arbitrary and cruel +measures were taken against the lower classes. As being persons with +whom interest usurped the force of justice, they all took account of +persons rather than of causes. They concerted their decisions at home, +and pronounced them in the forum. If any one appealed to a colleague, +he departed from the one to whom he had appealed in such a manner that +he regretted that he had not abided by the sentence of the former. An +irresponsible rumour had also gone abroad that they had conspired in +their tyranny not only for the present time, but that a clandestine +league had been concluded among them on oath, that they would not hold +the comitia, but by perpetuating the decemvirate would retain supreme +power now that it had once come into their possession. + +The plebeians then began narrowly to watch the countenances of the +patricians, and to strive to catch a glimpse of liberty from that +quarter, by apprehending slavery from which they had brought the +republic into its present condition. The leading members of the senate +detested the decemvirs, detested the commons; they neither approved of +what was going on, and they considered that what befell the latter was +not undeserved. They were unwilling to assist men who, by rushing too +eagerly toward liberty, had fallen into slavery: they even heaped +injuries on them, that, from disgust at the present state of things, +two consuls and the former constitution might at length be regretted. +By this time the greater part of the year had passed, and two tables +of laws had been added to the ten tables of the former year; and if +these laws also had been passed in the assembly of the centuries, +there would now have remained no reason why the republic should +require that form of government. They were anxiously waiting to see +how long it would be before the assembly would be proclaimed for the +election of consuls. The only thing that troubled the commons was +by what means they should re-establish the tribunician power, that +bulwark of their liberty, now so long discontinued, no mention in the +meantime being made of the elections. Further, the decemvirs, who +had at first exhibited themselves to the people surrounded by men +of tribunician rank, because that was deemed popular, now guarded +themselves by bands of young patricians: crowds of these beset the +tribunals. They harried the commons, and plundered their effects: when +fortune was on the side of the more powerful individual in regard to +whatever was coveted. And now they spared not even their persons: some +were beaten with rods, others had to submit to the axe; and, that such +cruelty might not go unrewarded, a grant of his effects followed the +punishment of the owner. Corrupted by such bribes, the young nobles +not only made no opposition to oppression, but openly avowed a +preference for their own selfish gratification rather than for the +liberty of all. + +The ides of May came round. Without any magistrates being elected +in place of those retiring, private persons [45]came forward as +decemvirs, without any abatement either in their determination to +enforce their authority, or any alteration in the insignia displayed +as outward signs of office. That indeed seemed undoubted regal +tyranny. Liberty was now deplored as lost forever: no champion of it +stood forth, or seemed likely to do so. And not only were the Romans +themselves sunk in despondency, but they began to be looked down upon +by the neighbouring states, who felt indignant that sovereign power +should be in the hands of a state where liberty did not exist. The +Sabines with a numerous body of men made an incursion into Roman +territory; and having committed extensive devastations, after they had +driven off with impunity booty of men and cattle, they recalled their +troops, which had been dispersed in different directions, to +Eretum, where they pitched their camp, grounding their hopes on the +dissensions at Rome, which they expected would prove an obstruction to +the levy. Not only the couriers, but also the flight of the country +people through the city inspired them with alarm. The decemvirs, left +in a dilemma between the hatred of the patricians and people, took +counsel what was to be done. Fortune, moreover, brought an additional +cause of alarm. The AEquans on the opposite side pitched their camp at +Algidum, and by raids from there ravaged Tusculan territory. News of +this was brought by ambassadors from Tusculum imploring assistance. +The panic thereby occasioned urged the decemvirs to consult the +senate, now that two wars at once threatened the city. They ordered +the patricians to be summoned into the senate-house, well aware what a +storm of resentment was ready to break upon them; they felt that all +would heap upon them the blame for the devastation of their territory, +and for the dangers that threatened; and that that would give them an +opportunity of endeavouring to abolish their office, if they did not +unite in resisting, and by enforcing their authority with severity on +a few who showed an intractable spirit repress the attempts of others. +When the voice of the crier was heard in the forum summoning the +senators into the senate-house to the presence of the decemvirs, this +proceeding, as altogether new, because they had long since given up +the custom of consulting the senate, attracted the attention of the +people, who, full of surprise, wanted to know what had happened, and +why, after so long an interval they were reviving a custom that had +fallen into abeyance: stating that they ought to thank the enemy and +the war, that any of the customs of a free state were complied with. +They looked around for a senator through all parts of the forum, and +seldom recognised one anywhere: they then directed their attention to +the senate-house, and to the solitude around the decemvirs, who both +themselves judged that their power was universally detested, while the +commons were of opinion that the senators refused to assemble because +the decemvirs, now reduced to the rank of private citizens, had no +authority to convene them: that a nucleus was now formed of those who +would help them to recover their liberty, if the commons would but +side with the senate, and if, as the patricians, when summoned, +refused to attend the senate, so also the commons would refuse to +enlist. Thus the commons grumbled. There was hardly one of the +patricians in the forum, and but very few in the city. In disgust at +the state of affairs, they had retired into the country, and busied +themselves only with their private affairs, giving up all thought of +state concerns, considering that they themselves were out of reach +of ill-treatment in proportion as they removed themselves from the +meeting and converse of their imperious masters. When those who had +been summoned did not assemble, state messengers were despatched to +their houses, both to levy the penalties,[46] and to make inquiries +whether they purposely refused to attend. They brought back word +that the senate was in the country. This was more pleasing to the +decemvirs, than if they brought word that they were present and +refused obedience to their commands. They commanded them all to be +summoned, and proclaimed a meeting of the senate for the following +day, which assembled in much greater numbers than they themselves had +expected. By this proceeding the commons considered that their liberty +was betrayed by the patricians, because the senate had obeyed those +persons, as if they had a right to compel them, who had already gone +out of office, and were mere private individuals, were it not for the +violence displayed by them. + +However, they showed more obedience in coming into the senate than +obsequiousness in the opinions expressed by them, as we have learned. +It is recorded that, after Appius Claudius laid the subject of debate +before the meeting, and before their opinions were asked in order, +Lucius Valerius Potitus excited a commotion, by demanding permission +to express his sentiments concerning the state, and--when the +decemvirs prevented him with threats [47]--by declaring that he would +present himself before the people. It is also recorded that Marcus +Horatius Barbatus entered the lists with no less boldness, calling +them "ten Tarquins," and reminding them that under the leadership of +the Valerii and Horatii the kings had been expelled. Nor was it the +mere name that men were then disgusted with, as being that by which it +was proper that Jupiter should be styled, as also Romulus, the founder +of the city, and the succeeding kings, and a name too which had been +retained also for the ceremonies of religion,[48] as a solemn one; +that it was the tyranny and arrogance of a king they then detested: +and if these were not to be tolerated in that same king or the son of +a king, who would tolerate it in so many private citizens? Let them +beware lest, by preventing persons from expressing their sentiments +freely in the senate, they obliged them to raise their voice outside +the senate-house. Nor could he see how it was less allowable for him, +a private citizen, to summon the people to an assembly, than for them +to convene the senate. They might try, whenever they pleased, how much +more determined a sense of wrong would be found to be, when it was a +question of vindicating one's own liberty, than ambition, when the +object was to preserve an unjust dominion. That they proposed the +question concerning the war with the Sabines, as if the Roman people +had any more important war on hand than that against those who, having +been elected for the purpose of framing laws, had left no law in the +state; who had abolished elections, annual magistrates, the regular +change of rulers, which was the only means of equalizing liberty; +who, though private citizens, still possessed the fasces and regal +dominion. That after the expulsion of the kings, patrician magistrates +had been appointed, and subsequently, after the secession of the +people, plebeian magistrates. What party was it, he asked, to which +they belonged? To the popular party? What had they ever done with the +concurrence of the people? To the party of the nobles? Who for now +nearly an entire year had not held a meeting of the senate, and then +held one in such a manner that they prevented the expression of +sentiments regarding the commonwealth? Let them not place too much +hope in the fears of others; the grievances which they were now +suffering appeared to men more oppressive than any they might +apprehend. + +While Horatius was exclaiming thus and the decemvirs could not +discover the proper bounds either of their anger or forbearance, nor +saw how the matter would end, Gaius Claudius, who was the uncle +of Appius the decemvir, delivered an address more in the style of +entreaty than reproach, beseeching him by the shade of his brother and +of his father, that he would hold in recollection the civil society +in which he had been born, rather than the confederacy nefariously +entered into with his colleagues, adding that he besought this much +more on Appius's own account, than for the sake of the commonwealth. +For the commonwealth would claim its rights in spite of them, if it +could not obtain them with their consent: that however, from a great +contest great animosities were generally aroused: it was the result of +the latter that he dreaded. Though the decemvirs forbade them to speak +on any subject save that which they had submitted to them, they felt +too much respect for Claudius to interrupt him He therefore concluded +the expression of his opinion by moving that it was their wish that no +decree of the senate should be passed. And all understood the matter +thus, that they were judged by Claudius to be private citizens;[49] +and many of those of consular standing expressed their assent in +words. Another measure, more severe in appearance, which ordered the +patricians to assemble to nominate an interrex, in reality had much +less force; for by this motion the mover gave expression to a decided +opinion that those persons were magistrates of some kind or other who +might hold a meeting of the senate, while he who recommended that +no decree of the senate should be passed, had thereby declared them +private citizens. When the cause of the decemvirs was now failing, +Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of Marcus Cornelius the +decemvir, having been purposely reserved from among those of consular +rank to close the debate, by affecting an anxiety about the war, +defended his brother and his colleagues by declaring that he wondered +by what fatality it had occurred, that those who had been candidates +for the decemvirate, either these or their friends, had above all +others attacked the decemvirs: or why, when no one had disputed for +so many months while the state was free from anxiety, whether legal +magistrates were at the head of affairs, they now at length sowed +the seeds of civil discord, when the enemy were nearly at the gates, +except it were that in a state of confusion they thought that their +object would be less clearly seen through. For the rest, it was unfair +that any one should prejudge a matter of such importance, while their +minds were occupied with a more momentous concern. It was his opinion +that, in regard to what Valerius and Horatius alleged--that the +decemvirs had gone out of office before the ides of May--the matter +should be discussed in the senate and left to them to decide, when the +wars which were now impending were over, and the commonwealth restored +to tranquility, and that Appius Claudius was even now preparing to +take notice that an account had to be rendered by him of the election +which he himself as decemvir held for electing decemvirs, whether they +were elected for one year, or until the laws, which were wanting, +were ratified. It was his opinion that all other matters should be +disregarded for the present, except the war; and if they thought that +the reports regarding it were propagated without foundation, and that +not only the messengers but also the ambassadors of the Tusculans had +stated what was false, he thought that scouts should be dispatched to +bring back more certain information; but if credit were given both to +the messengers and the ambassadors, that the levy should be held at +the very earliest opportunity; that the decemvirs should lead the +armies, whither each thought proper: and that no other matter should +take precedence. + +The junior patricians almost succeeded in getting this resolution +passed on a division. Accordingly, Valerius and Horatius, rising again +with greater vehemence, loudly demanded that it should be allowed them +to express their sentiments concerning the republic; that they would +address a meeting of the people, if owing to party efforts they were +not allowed to do so in the senate: for that private individuals, +whether in the senate or in a general assembly, could not prevent +them: nor would they yield to their imaginary fasces. Appius, now +considering that the crisis was already nigh at hand, when their +authority would be overpowered, unless the violence of these were +resisted with equal boldness, said, "It will be better for you not to +utter a word on any subject, except the subject of discussion"; +and against Valerius, when he refused to be silent for a private +individual, he commanded a lictor to proceed. When Valerius, from +the threshold of the senate-house, now craved the protection of the +citizens, Lucius Cornelius, embracing Appius, put an end to the +struggle, not in reality consulting the interest of him whose interest +he pretended to consult;[50] and after permission to say what he +pleased had been obtained for Valerius by means of Cornelius, when +this liberty did not extend beyond words, the decemvirs attained their +object. The men of consular rank also and senior members, from the +hatred of tribunician power still rankling in their bosoms, the +longing for which they considered was much more keenly felt by the +commons than for the consular power, almost preferred that the +decemvirs themselves should voluntarily resign their office at some +future period, than that the people should once more become prominent +through hatred against these. If the matter, quietly conducted, should +again return to the consuls without popular turbulence, that the +commons might be induced to forget their tribunes, either by the +intervention of wars or by the moderation of the consuls in exercising +their authority. + +A levy was proclaimed without objection on the part of the patricians; +the young men answered to their names, as the government was without +appeal. The legions having been enrolled, the decemvirs proceeded to +arrange among themselves who should set out to the war, who should +command the armies. The leading men among the decemvirs were Quintus +Fabius and Appius Claudius. The war at home appeared more serious than +abroad. The decemvirs considered the violence of Appius better +suited to suppress commotions in the city; that Fabius possessed +a disposition rather lacking in firmness in a good purpose than +energetic in a bad one. For this man, formerly distinguished at home +and abroad, had been so altered by his office of decemvir and the +influence of his colleagues that he chose rather to be like Appius +than like himself. To him the war among the Sabines was intrusted, +Manius Rabuleius and Quintus Paetilius being sent with him as +colleagues. Marcus Cornelius was sent to Algidum with Lucius Minucius, +Titus Antonius, Caeso Duillius, and Marcus Sergius: they appointed +Spurius Oppius to assist Appius Claudius in protecting the city, while +all the decemvirs were to enjoy equal authority. + +The republic was managed with no better success in war than at home. +In this the only fault in the generals was, that they had rendered +themselves objects of hatred to their fellow-citizens: in other +respects the entire blame lay with the soldiers, who, lest any +enterprise should be successfully conducted under the leadership and +auspices of the decemvirs, suffered themselves to be beaten, to their +own disgrace and that of their generals. Their armies were routed both +by the Sabines at Eretum, and by the AEquans in Algidum. Fleeing from +Eretum during the silence of the night, they fortified their camp +nearer the city, on an elevated position between Fidenae and +Crustumeria; nowhere encountering on equal ground the enemy who +pursued them, they protected themselves by the nature of the ground +and a rampart, not by valour or arms. Their conduct was more +disgraceful, and greater loss also was sustained in Algidum; their +camp too was lost, and the soldiers, stripped of all their arms, +munitions, and supplies, betook themselves to Tusculum, determined to +procure the means of subsistence from the good faith and compassion of +their hosts, and in these, notwithstanding their conduct, they were +not disappointed. Such alarming accounts were brought to Rome, that +the patricians, having now laid aside their hatred of the decemvirs, +passed an order that watches should be held in the city, and commanded +that all who were not hindered by reason of their age from carrying +arms, should mount guard on the walls, and form outposts before the +gates; they also voted that arms should be sent to Tusculum, besides +a re-enforcement; and that the decemvirs should come down from the +citadel of Tusculum and keep their troops encamped; that the other +camp should be removed from Fidenas into Sabine territory, and the +enemy, by their thus attacking them first, should be deterred from +entertaining any idea of assaulting the city. + +In addition to the reverses sustained at the hands of the enemy, the +decemvirs were guilty of two monstrous deeds, one abroad, and the +other in the city. They sent Lucius Siccius, who was quartered among +the Sabines, to take observations for the purpose of selecting a site +for a camp: he, availing himself of the unpopularity of the decemvirs, +was introducing, in his secret conversations with the common soldiers, +suggestions of a secession and the election of tribunes: the soldiers, +whom they had sent to accompany him in that expedition, were +commissioned to attack him in a convenient place and slay him. They +did not kill him with impunity; several of the assassins fell around +him, as he offered resistance, since, possessing great personal +strength and displaying courage equal to that strength, he defended +himself against them, although surrounded. The rest brought news into +the camp that Siccius, while fighting bravely, had fallen into an +ambush, and that some soldiers had been lost with him. At first the +account was believed; afterward a party of men, who went by permission +of the decemvirs to bury those who had fallen, when they observed that +none of the bodies there were stripped, and that Siccius lay in the +midst fully armed, and that all the bodies were turned toward him, +while there was neither the body of any of the enemy, nor any traces +of their departure, brought back his body, saying that he had +assuredly been slain by his own men. The camp was now filled with +indignation, and it was resolved that Siccius should be forthwith +brought to Rome, had not the decemvirs hastened to bury him with +military honours at the public expense. He was buried amid the great +grief of the soldiery, and with the worst possible infamy of the +decemvirs among the common people. + +Another monstrous deed followed in the city, originating in lust, and +attended by results not less tragical than that deed which had brought +about the expulsion of the Tarquins from the city and the throne +through the violation and death of Lucretia: so that the decemvirs not +only came to the same end as the kings, but the reason also of their +losing their power was the same. Appius Claudius was seized with a +criminal passion for violating the person of a young woman of plebeian +rank. Lucius Verginius, the girl's father, held an honourable +rank among the centurions at Algidum, a man who was a pattern of +uprightness both at home and in the service. His wife and children +were brought up in the same manner. He had betrothed his daughter to +Lucius Icilius, who had been tribune, a man of spirit and of approved +zeal in the interest of the people. Appius, burning with desire, +attempted to seduce by bribes and promises this young woman, now grown +up, and of distinguished beauty; and when he perceived that all the +avenues of his lust were barred by modesty, he turned his thoughts to +cruel and tyrannical violence. Considering that, as the girl's father +was absent, there was an opportunity for committing the wrong; he +instructed a dependent of his, Marcus Claudius, to claim the girl as +his slave, and not to yield to those who demanded her enjoyment of +liberty pending judgment. The tool of the decemvir's lust laid hands +on the girl as she was coming into the forum--for there the elementary +schools were held in booths--calling her the daughter of his slave and +a slave herself, and commanded her to follow him, declaring that he +would drag her off by force if she demurred. The girl being struck +dumb with terror, a crowd collected at the cries of her nurse, who +besought the protection of the citizens. The popular names of her +father, Verginius, and of her betrothed, Icilius, were in every one's +mouth. Esteem for them gained the good-will of their acquaintances, +the heinousness of the proceeding, that of the crowd. She was now +safe from violence, forasmuch as the claimant said that there was no +occasion for rousing the mob; that he was proceeding by law, not by +force. He summoned the girl into court. Her supporters advising her +to follow him, they reached the tribunal of Appius. The claimant +rehearsed the farce well known to the judge, as being in presence of +the actual author of the plot, that the girl, born in his house, and +clandestinely transferred from thence to the house of Verginius, had +been fathered on the latter: that what he stated was established +by certain evidence, and that he would prove it, even if Verginius +himself, who would be the principal sufferer, were judge: that +meanwhile it was only fair the servant should accompany her master. +The supporters of Verginia, after they had urged that Verginius was +absent on business of the state, that he would be present in two days +if word were sent to him, and that it was unfair that in his absence +he should run any risk regarding his children, demanded that Appius +should adjourn the whole matter till the arrival of the father; that +he should allow the claim for her liberty pending judgment according +to the law passed by himself, and not allow a maiden of ripe age to +encounter the risk of her reputation before that of her liberty. + +Appius prefaced his decision by observing that the very same law, +which the friends of Verginius put forward as the plea of their +demand, showed how strongly he himself was in favour of liberty: that +liberty, however, would find secure protection in the law on this +condition only, that it varied neither with respect to cases or +persons. For with respect to those individuals who were claimed as +free, that point of law was good, because any citizen could proceed by +law in such a matter: but in the case of her who was in the hands of +her father, there was no other person in whose favour her master need +relinquish his right of possession.[51] That it was his decision, +therefore, that her father should be sent for: that, in the meantime, +the claimant should not be deprived of the right, which allowed him +to carry off the girl with him, at the same time promising that she +should be produced on the arrival of him who was called her father. +When there were many who murmured against the injustice of this +decision rather than any one individual who ventured to protest +against it, the girl's great-uncle, Publius Numitorius, and her +betrothed, Icilius, appeared on the scene: and, way being made for +them through the crowd, the multitude thinking that Appius could be +most effectually resisted by the intervention of Icilius, the lictor +declared that he had decided the matter, and attempted to remove +Icilius, when he began to raise his voice. Such a monstrous injustice +would have fired even a cool temper. "By the sword, Appius," said he, +"must I be removed hence, that you may secure silence about that which +you wish to be concealed. This young woman I am about to marry, to +have and to hold as my lawful wife. Wherefore call together all the +lictors of your colleagues also; order the rods and axes to be got +ready: the betrothed wife of Icilius shall not pass the night outside +her father's house. No: though you have taken from us the aid of our +tribunes, and the power of appeal to the commons of Rome, the two +bulwarks for the maintenance of our liberty, absolute authority has +not therefore been given to your lust over our wives and children. +Vent your fury on our backs and necks; let chastity at least be +secure. If violence shall be offered to her, I shall implore the +protection of the citizens here present on behalf of my betrothed, +Verginius that of the soldiers on behalf of his only daughter, all of +us the protection of gods and men, nor shall you carry that sentence +into effect without our blood. I demand of you, Appius, consider again +and again to what lengths you are proceeding. Verginius, when he +comes, will see to it, what conduct he is to pursue with respect to +his daughter: only let him be assured of this, that if he yields to +the claims of this man, he will have to look out for another match for +his daughter. As for my part, in vindicating the liberty of my spouse, +life shall leave me sooner than honour." + +The multitude was now roused, and a contest seemed threatening. The +lictors had taken their stand around Icilius; they did not, however, +proceed beyond threats, while Appius said that it was not Verginia who +was being defended by Icilius, but that, being a restless man, and +even now breathing the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an +opportunity for creating a disturbance. That he would not afford him +the chance of doing so on that day; but in order that he might now +know that the concession had been made not to his petulance, but to +the absent Verginius, to the name of father and to liberty, that he +would not decide the case on that day, nor introduce a decree: that he +would request Marcus Claudius to forego somewhat of his right, and to +suffer the girl to be bailed till the next day. However, unless the +father attended on the following day, he gave notice to Icilius and to +men like Icilius, that, as the framer of it, he would maintain his own +law, as a decemvir, his firmness: that he would certainly not assemble +the lictors of his colleagues to put down the promoters of sedition; +that he would be content with his own. When the time of this act +of injustice had been deferred, and the friends of the maiden had +retired, it was first of all determined that the brother of Icilius, +and the son of Numitorius, both active young men, should proceed +thence straight to the city gate, and that Verginius should be +summoned from the camp with all possible haste: that the safety of the +girl depended on his being present next day at the proper time, to +protect her from wrong. They proceeded according to directions, and +galloping at full speed, carried the news to her father. When the +claimant of the maiden was pressing Icilius to lay claim to her, and +give bail for her appearance, and Icilius said that that was the very +thing that was being done, purposely wasting the time, until the +messengers sent to the camp should finish their journey, the multitude +raised their hands on all sides, and every one showed himself ready +to go surety for Icilius. And he, with his eyes full of tears, said: +"This is a great favour; to-morrow I will avail myself of your +assistance: at present I have sufficient sureties." Thus Verginia was +bailed on the security of her relations. Appius, having delayed a +short time, that he might not appear to have sat on account of that +case alone, when no one made application to him, all other concerns +being set aside owing to the interest displayed in this one case, +betook himself home, and wrote to his colleague in the camp, not +to grant leave of absence to Verginius, and even to keep him in +confinement. This wicked scheme was too late, as it deserved: for +Verginius, having already obtained his leave had set out at the first +watch, while the letter regarding his detention was delivered on the +following morning without effect. + +But in the city, at daybreak, when the citizens were standing in the +forum on the tiptoe of expectation, Verginius, clad in mourning, +conducted his daughter, also shabbily attired, attended by some +matrons, into the forum, with a considerable body of supporters. He +there began to go around and solicit people: and not only entreated +their aid given out of kindness, but demanded it as a right: saying +that he stood daily in the field of battle in defence of their wives +and children, nor was there any other man, whose brave and intrepid +deeds in war could be recorded in greater numbers. What availed it, +if, while the city was secure from dangers, their children had to +endure these calamities, which were the worst that could be dreaded if +it were taken? Uttering these words just like one delivering a public +harangue, he solicited the people individually. Similar arguments were +put forward by Icilius: the attendant throng of women produced more +effect by their silent tears than any words. With a mind stubbornly +proof against all this--such an attack of frenzy, rather than of love, +had perverted his mind--Appius ascended the tribunal, and when the +claimant went on to complain briefly, that justice had not been +administered to him on the preceding day through party influence, +before either he could go through with his claim, or an opportunity of +reply was afforded to Verginius, Appius interrupted him. The preamble +with which he prefaced his decision, ancient authors may have handed +down perhaps with some degree of truth; but since I nowhere find any +that is probable in the case of so scandalous a decision, I think it +best to state the bare fact, which is generally admitted, that he +passed a sentence consigning her to slavery. At first a feeling of +bewilderment astounded all, caused by amazement at so heinous a +proceeding: then for some time silence prevailed. Then, when Marcus +Claudius proceeded to seize the maiden, while the matrons stood +around, and was met by the piteous lamentations of the women, +Verginius, menacingly stretching forth his hands toward Appius, said: +"To Icilius, and not to you, Appius, have I betrothed my daughter, and +for matrimony, not for prostitution, have I brought her up. Would +you have men gratify their lust promiscuously, like cattle and wild +beasts? Whether these persons will endure such things, I know not; I +do not think that those will do so who have arms in their hands." +When the claimant of the girl was repulsed by the crowd of women and +supporters who were standing around her, silence was proclaimed by the +crier. + +The decemvir, as if he had lost his reason owing to his passion, +stated that not only from Icilius's abusive harangue of the day +before, and the violence of Verginius, of which he could produce the +entire Roman people as witnesses, but from authentic information +also he had ascertained that secret meetings were held in the city +throughout the night with the object of stirring up sedition: that +he, accordingly, being aware of that danger, had come down with armed +soldiers, not to molest any peaceable person, but in order to punish, +as the majesty of the government demanded, those who disturbed the +tranquility of the state. "It will, therefore," said he, "be better to +remain quiet: go, lictor, disperse the crowd, and clear the way for +the master to lay hold of his slave." After he had thundered out these +words, full of wrath, the multitude of their own accord dispersed, and +the girl stood deserted, a sacrifice to injustice. Then Verginius, +when he saw no aid anywhere, said: "I beg you, Appius, first pardon a +father's grief, if I have attacked you too harshly: in the next place, +suffer me to ask the nurse here in presence of the maiden, what all +this means, that, if I have been falsely called her father, I may +depart hence with mind more tranquil." Permission having been granted, +he drew the girl and the nurse aside to the booths near the chapel +of Cloacina,[52] which now go by the name of the New Booths:[53] and +there, snatching a knife from a butcher, "In this, the only one way I +can, my daughter," said he, "do I secure to you your liberty." He +then plunged it into the girl's breast, and looking back toward the +tribunal, said "With this blood I devote thee,[54] Appius, and thy +head!" Appius, aroused by the cry raised at so dreadful a deed, +ordered Verginius to be seized. He, armed with the knife, cleared the +way whithersoever he went, until, protected by the crowd of persons +attending him, he reached the gate. Icilius and Numitorius took up the +lifeless body and showed it to the people; they deplored the villainy +of Appius, the fatal beauty of the maiden, and the cruel lot of the +father.[55] The matrons, following, cried out: Was this the condition +of rearing children? Were these the rewards of chastity? And other +things which female grief on such occasions suggests, when their +complaints are so much the more affecting, in proportion as their +grief is more intense from their want of self-control. The men, and +more especially Icilius, spoke of nothing but the tribunician power, +and the right of appeal to the people which had been taken from them, +and gave vent to their indignation in regard to the condition of +public affairs. + +The multitude was excited partly by the heinousness of the misdeed, +partly by the hope of recovering their liberty on a favourable +opportunity. Appius first ordered Icilius to be summoned before +him, then, when he refused to come, to be seized: finally, when the +officers were not allowed an opportunity of approaching him, he +himself, proceeding through the crowd with a body of young patricians, +ordered him to be led away to prison. Now not only the multitude, but +Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, the leaders of the multitude, +stood around Icilius and, having repulsed the lictor, declared, that, +if Appius should proceed according to law, they would protect Icilius +from one who was but a private citizen; if he should attempt to employ +force, that even in that case they would be no unequal match for him. +Hence arose a violent quarrel. The decemvir's lictor attacked Valerius +and Horatius: the fasces were broken by the people. Appius ascended +the tribunal; Horatius and Valerius followed him. They were +attentively listened to by the assembly: the voice of the decemvir was +drowned with clamour. Now Valerius, as if he possessed the authority +to do so, was ordering the lictors to depart from one who was but a +private citizen, when Appius, whose spirits were now broken, alarmed +for his life, betook himself into a house in the vicinity of the +forum, unobserved by his enemies, with his head covered up. Spurius +Oppius, in order to assist his colleague, rushed into the forum by the +opposite side: he saw their authority overpowered by force. Distracted +then by various counsels and by listening to several advisers from +every side, he had become hopelessly confused: eventually he ordered +the senate to be convened. Because the official acts of the decemvirs +seemed displeasing to the greater portion of the patricians, this +step quieted the people with the hope that the government would be +abolished through the senate. The senate was of opinion that the +commons should not be stirred up, and that much more effectual +measures should be taken lest the arrival of Verginius should cause +any commotion in the army. + +Accordingly, some of the junior patricians, being sent to the camp +which was at that time on Mount Vecilius, announced to the decemvirs +that they should do their utmost to keep the soldiers from mutinying. +There Verginius occasioned greater commotion than he had left behind +him in the city. For besides that he was seen coming with a body +of nearly four hundred men, who, enraged in consequence of the +disgraceful nature of the occurrence, had accompanied him from the +city, the unsheathed knife, and his being himself besmeared with +blood, attracted to him the attention of the entire camp; and the +gowns,[56] seen in many parts of the camp had caused the number of +people from the city to appear much greater than it really was. When +they asked him what was the matter, in consequence of his weeping, for +a long time he did not utter a word. At length, as soon as the crowd +of those running together became quiet after the disturbance, and +silence ensued, he related everything in order as it had occurred. + +Then extending his hands toward heaven, addressing his +fellow-soldiers, he begged of them, not to impute to him that which +was the crime of Appius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer of +his child. To him the life of his daughter was dearer than his own, if +she had been allowed to live in freedom and chastity. When he beheld +her dragged to prostitution as if she were a slave, thinking it better +that his child should be lost by death rather than by dishonour, +through compassion for her he had apparently fallen into cruelty. Nor +would he have survived his daughter had he not entertained the hope of +avenging her death by the aid of his fellow-soldiers. For they too had +daughters, sisters, and wives; nor was the lust of Appius Claudius +extinguished with his daughter; but in proportion as it escaped with +greater impunity, so much the more unbridled would it be. That by the +calamity of another a warning was given to them to guard against a +similar injury. As far as he was concerned, his wife had been taken +from him by destiny; his daughter, because she could no longer have +lived as a chaste woman, had met with an unfortunate but honourable +death; that there was now no longer in his family an opportunity for +the lust of Appius; that from any other violence of his he would +defend his person with the same spirit with which he had vindicated +that of his daughter: that others should take care for themselves and +their children. While he uttered these words in a loud voice, the +multitude responded with a shout that they would not be backward, +either to avenge his wrongs or to defend their own liberty. And the +civilians mixing with the crowd of soldiers, by uttering the same +complaints, and by showing how much more shocking these things must +have appeared when seen than when merely heard of, and also by telling +them that the disturbance at Rome was now almost over--and others +having subsequently arrived who asserted that Appius, having with +difficulty escaped with life, had gone into exile--all these +individuals so far influenced them that there was a general cry to +arms, and having pulled up the standards, they set out for Rome. The +decemvirs, being alarmed at the same time both by what they now saw, +as well as by what they had heard had taken place at Rome, ran about +to different parts of the camp to quell the commotion. While they +proceeded with mildness no answer was returned to them: if any of them +attempted to exert authority, the soldiers replied that they were men +and were armed. They proceeded in a body to the city and occupied the +Aventine, encouraging the commons, as each person met them, recover +their liberty, and elect tribunes of the people; no other expression +of violence was heard. Spurius Oppius held a meeting of the senate; +it was resolved that no harsh measures should be adopted, inasmuch as +occasion for sedition had been given by themselves.[57] Three men of +consular rank, Spurius Tarpeius, Gaius Julius, Publius Sulpicius, were +sent as ambassadors, to inquire, in the name of the senate, by whose +order they had deserted the camp? Or what they meant by having +occupied the Aventine in arms, and, turning away their arms from the +enemy, having seized their own country? They were at no loss for an +answer: but they wanted some one to give the answer, there being as +yet no certain leader, and individuals were not bold enough to expose +themselves to the invidious office. The multitude only cried out with +one accord, that they should send Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius +to them, saying that they would give their answer to them. + +The ambassadors being dismissed, Verginius reminded the soldiers that +a little while before they had been embarrassed in a matter of no very +great difficulty, because the multitude was without a head; and that +the answer given, though not inexpedient, was the result rather of an +accidental agreement than of a concerted plan. His opinion was, that +ten persons should be elected to preside over the management of state +affairs, and that they should be called tribunes of the soldiers, a +title suited to their military dignity. When that honour was offered +to himself in the first instance, he replied, "Reserve for an occasion +more favourable to both of us your kind recognition of me. The fact of +my daughter being unavenged, does not allow any office to be agreeable +to me, nor, in the present disturbed condition of the state, is it +advantageous that those should be at your head who are most exposed to +party animosity. If I am of any use, the benefit to be gained from my +services will be just as great while I am a private individual." They +accordingly elected military tribunes ten in number. + +Meanwhile the army among the Sabines was not inactive. There also, at +the instance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession from the decemvirs +took place, men's minds being no less moved when they recalled to mind +the murder of Siccius, than when they were fired with rage at the +recent account of the disgraceful attempt made on the maiden to +gratify lust. When Icilius heard that tribunes of the soldiers had +been elected on the Aventine, lest the election assembly in the city +should follow the precedent of the military assembly, by electing the +same persons tribunes of the commons, being well versed in popular +intrigues and having an eye to that office himself, he also took care, +before they proceeded to the city, that the same number should be +elected by his own party with equal power. They entered the city by +the Colline gate under their standards, and proceeded in a body to the +Aventine through the midst of the city. There, joining the other army, +they commissioned the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to select two +out of their number to preside over state affairs. They elected Marcus +Oppius and Sextus Manilius. The patricians, alarmed for the general +safety, though there was a meeting of the senate every day, wasted the +time in wrangling more frequently than in deliberation. The murder of +Siccius, the lust of Appius, and the disgraces incurred in war were +urged as charges against the decemvirs. It was resolved that Valerius +and Horatius should proceed to the Aventine. They refused to go on any +other condition than that the decemvirs should lay down the badges of +that office, which they had resigned at the end of the previous year. +The decemvirs, complaining that they were now being degraded, declared +that they would not resign their office until those laws, for the sake +of which they had been appointed, were passed. + +The people being informed by Marcus Duillius, who had been tribune of +the people, that by reason of their continual contentions no business +was transacted, passed from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, as +Duillius asserted that no concern for business would enter the minds +of the patricians, until they saw the city deserted: that the Sacred +Mount would remind them of the people's firmness: that they would then +know that matters could not be brought back to harmony without the +restoration of the tribunician power. Having set out along the +Nomentan way, which was then called the Ficulean,[58] they pitched +their camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the moderation of their +fathers by committing no violence. The commons followed the army, +no one whose age would permit him declining to go. Their wives and +children attended them, piteously asking to whom they were leaving +them, in a city where neither chastity nor liberty were respected. +When the unusual solitude had created everywhere at Rome a feeling +of desolation; when there was no one in the forum but a few old men: +when, after the patricians had been summoned into the senate, the +forum appeared deserted, by this time more besides Horatius and +Valerius began to exclaim, "What will you now wait for, conscript +fathers? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their obstinacy, will +you suffer all things to go to wreck and ruin? What power is that of +yours, decemvirs, which you embrace and hold so firmly? Do you mean to +administer justice to walls and houses? Are you not ashamed that an +almost greater number of your lictors is to be seen in the forum than +of the other citizens? What are you going to do, in case the enemy +should approach the city? What, if the commons should come presently +in arms, in case we show ourselves little affected by their secession? +Do you mean to end your power by the fall of the city? Well, then, +either we must not have the commons, or they must have their tribunes. +We shall sooner be able to dispense with our patrician magistrates, +than they with their plebeian. That power, when new and untried, +they wrested from our fathers; much less will they now, when once +captivated by its charm, endure the loss of: more especially since we +do not behave with such moderation in the exercise of our power that +they are in no need of the aid of the tribunes." When these arguments +were thrown out from every quarter, the decemvirs, overpowered by the +united opinions of all, declared that, since such seemed to be the +feeling, they would submit to the authority of the patricians. All +they asked for themselves was that they might be protected from +popular odium; they warned the senate, that they should not, by +shedding their blood, habituate the people to inflict punishment on +the patricians. + +Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to bring back the people +on such terms as might seem fit, and to adjust all differences, were +directed to make provision also to protect the decemvirs from the +resentment and violence of the multitude. They set forth and were +received into the camp amid the great joy of the people, as their +undoubted liberators, both at the beginning of the disturbance and +at the termination of the matter. In consideration of these things, +thanks were returned to them on their arrival. Icilius delivered +a speech in the name of the people. When the terms came to be +considered, on the ambassadors inquiring what the demands of the +people were, he also, having already concerted the plan before the +arrival of the ambassadors, made such demands, that it became evident +that more hope was placed in the justice of their case than in arms. +For they demanded the restoration of the tribunician office and the +right of appeal, which, before the appointment of decemvirs, had been +the supports of the people, and that it should be without detriment +to any one to have instigated the soldiers or the commons to seek to +recover their liberty by a secession. Concerning the punishment only +of the decemvirs was their demand immoderate: for they thought it but +just that they should be delivered up to them, and threatened to burn +them alive. The ambassadors replied: "Your demands which have been +the result of deliberation are so reasonable, that they should be +voluntarily offered to you: for you demand therein safeguards for +your liberty, not a means of arbitrary power to assail others. Your +resentment we must rather pardon than indulge, seeing that from your +hatred of cruelty you rush into cruelty, and almost before you are +free yourselves, already wish to lord it over your opponents. Shall +our state never enjoy rest from punishments, inflicted either by the +patricians on the Roman commons, or by the commons on the patricians? +You need a shield rather than a sword. He is sufficiently and +abundantly humbled who lives in the state on an equal footing with his +fellow-citizens, neither inflicting nor suffering injury. Should you, +however, at any time wish to render yourselves formidable, when, after +you have recovered your magistrates and laws, decisions on our +lives and fortunes shall be in your hands, then you shall determine +according to the merits of each case: for the present it is sufficient +that your liberty be recovered." + +All assenting that they should act just as they thought proper, the +ambassadors assured them that they would speedily return, having +brought everything to a satisfactory termination. When they had gone +and laid before the patricians the message of the commons--while the +other decemvirs, since, contrary to their own expectation, no mention +was made of their punishment--raised no objection, Appius, being of a +truculent disposition and the chief object of detestation, measuring +the rancour of others toward him by his own toward them, said: "I am +not ignorant of the fate which threatens me. I see that the contest +against us is only deferred until our arms are delivered up to our +adversaries. Blood must be offered up to popular rage. I do not even +hesitate to resign my decemvirate." A decree of the senate was then +passed: that the decemvirs should as soon as possible resign their +office; that Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should hold an election of +plebeian tribunes, and that the secession of the soldiers and commons +should not be detrimental to any one. These decrees of the senate +being completed, and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs came forth +into the assembly, and resigned their office, to the great joy of all. +News of this was carried to the commons. All those who remained in the +city escorted the ambassadors. This crowd was met by another joyous +body from the camp; they congratulated each other on the restoration +of liberty and concord to the state. The deputies spoke as follows +before the assembly: "Be it advantageous, fortunate, and happy for you +and the republic--return to your country, to your household gods, your +wives and children; but carry into the city the same moderation which +you observed here, where in spite of the pressing need of so many +things necessary for so large a number of persons, no man's field has +been injured. Go to the Aventine, whence you set out. There, in that +auspicious place, where you laid the first beginnings of your liberty, +you shall elect tribunes of the people. The chief pontiff will be at +hand to hold the elections." Great was their approval and joy, as +evinced in their assent to every measure. They then pulled up their +standards, and having set out for Rome, vied in exultation with all +they met. Silently, under arms, they marched through the city and +reached the Aventine. There, the chief pontiff holding the meeting +for the elections, they immediately elected as their tribunes of +the people, first of all Lucius Verginius, then Lucius Icilius, and +Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginius, who had recommended the +secession: then Gaius Sicinius, the offspring of him who is recorded +to have been elected first tribune of the commons on the Sacred Mount; +and Marcus Duillius, who had held a distinguished tribuneship before +the appointment of the decemvirs, and never failed the commons in +their contests with the decemvirs. Marcus Titinius, Marcus Pomponius, +Gaius Apronius, Appius Villius, and Gaius Oppius, were elected more +from hope entertained of them than from any actual services. When he +entered on his tribuneship, Lucius Icilius immediately brought before +the people, and the people enacted, that the secession from the +decemvirs which had taken place should not prove detrimental to any +individual. Immediately after Duillius carried a proposition for +electing consuls, with right of appeal[59]. All these things were +transacted in an assembly of the commons in the Flaminian meadows, +which are now called the Flaminian Circus.[60] + +Then, through an interrex, Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius were +elected consuls, and immediately entered on their office; their +consulship, agreeable to the people, although it did no injury to +the patricians, was not, however, without giving them offence; for +whatever measures were taken to secure the liberty of the people, they +considered to be a diminution of their own power. First of all, when +it was as it were a disputed point of law, whether patricians were +bound by regulations enacted in an assembly of the commons, they +proposed a law in the assembly of the centuries, that whatever the +commons ordered in the assembly of the tribes, should be binding on +the entire people; by which law a most keen-edged weapon of offence +was given to the motions introduced by tribunes. Then another law made +by a consul concerning the right of appeal, a singularly effective +safeguard of liberty, that had been upset by the decemviral power, +was not only restored but also guarded for the time to come, by the +passing of a new law, that no one should appoint any magistrate +without appeal:[61] if any person should so appoint, it should be +lawful and right that he be put to death; and that such killing should +not be deemed a capital offence. And when they had sufficiently +secured the commons by the right of appeal on the one hand by +tribunician aid on the other, they revived for the tribunes themselves +the privilege that their persons should be considered inviolable--the +recollection of which was now almost forgotten--by renewing after a +long interval certain ceremonies which had fallen into disuse; and +they rendered them inviolable by religion, as well as by a law, +enacting that whosoever should offer injury to tribunes of the people, +aediles, or judicial decemvirs, his person should be devoted to +Jupiter, and his property be sold at the Temple of Ceres, Liber, and +Libera. Expounders of the law deny that any person is by this law +inviolable, but assert that he, who may do an injury to any of them, +is deemed by law accursed: and that, accordingly, an aedile may be +arrested and carried to prison by superior magistrates, which, though +it be not expressly warranted by law (for an injury is done to a +person to whom it is not lawful to do an injury according to this +law), is yet a proof that an aedile is not considered as sacred and +inviolable; the tribunes, however, are sacred and inviolable according +to the ancient oath of the commons, when first they created that +office. There have been some who supposed that by this same Horatian +law provision was made for the consuls also and the praetors, because +they were elected under the same auspices as the consuls; for a consul +was called a judge. This interpretation is refuted, because at this +time it had not yet been customary for the consul to be styled judge, +but praetor.[62] These were the laws proposed by the consuls. It was +also arranged by the same consuls, that decrees of the senate, which +before that used to be suppressed and altered at the pleasure of the +consuls, should be deposited in the Temple of Ceres, under the care +of the aediles of the commons. Then Marcus Duillius, tribune of the +commons, brought before the people and the people enacted, that +whoever left the people without tribunes, and whoever caused a +magistrate to be elected without appeal, should be punished with +stripes and beheaded. All these enactments, though against the +feelings of the patricians, passed off without opposition from them, +because as yet no severity was aimed at any particular individual. + +Then, both the tribunician power and the liberty of the commons having +been firmly established, the tribunes, now deeming it both safe and +seasonable to attack individuals, singled out Verginius as the first +prosecutor and Appius as defendant. When Verginius had appointed a day +for Appius to take his trial, and Appius had come down to the forum, +accompanied by a band of young patricians, the recollection of his +most profligate exercise of power was instantly revived in the minds +of all, as soon as they beheld the man himself and his satellites. +Then said Verginius: "Long speeches are only meant for matters of a +doubtful nature. Accordingly, I shall neither waste time in dwelling +on the guilt of this man before you, from whose cruelty you have +rescued yourselves by force of arms, nor will I suffer him to add +impudence to his other crimes in defending himself. Wherefore, Appius +Claudius, I pardon you for all the impious and nefarious deeds you +have had the effrontery to commit one after another for the last two +years; with respect to one charge only, unless you shall choose a +judge who shall acquit you that you have not sentenced a free person +to slavery, contrary to the laws, I shall order that you be taken into +custody." Neither in the aid of the tribunes, nor in the judgment of +the people, could Appius place any hope: still he both appealed to the +tribunes, and, when no one heeded him, being seized by the officer, he +exclaimed, "I appeal." The hearing of this one word that safeguard of +liberty, and the fact that it was uttered from that mouth, by which +a free citizen was so recently consigned to slavery, caused silence. +And, while they loudly declared, each on his own behalf, that at +length the existence of the gods was proved, and that they did not +disregard human affairs; and that punishments awaited tyranny and +cruelty, which punishments, though late, were, however, by no means +light; that that man now appealed, who had abolished all right of +appeal; and that he implored the protection of the people, who had +trampled under foot all the rights of the people: and that he was +being dragged off to prison, destitute of the rights of liberty, who +had doomed a free person to slavery, the voice of Appius himself was +heard, amid the murmurs of the assembly, imploring the protection of +the Roman people. He enumerated the services of his ancestors to +the state, at home and abroad: his own unfortunate anxiety for the +interests of the Roman commons, owing to which he had resigned the +consulship, to the very great displeasure of the patricians, for the +purpose of equalizing the laws; he then went on to mention those laws +of his, the framer of which was dragged off to prison, though the laws +still remained in force. However, in regard to what bore especially on +his own case, his personal merits and demerits, he would make trial +of them, when an opportunity should be afforded him of stating his +defence; at present, he, a Roman citizen, demanded, by the common +right of citizenship, that he be allowed to speak on the day +appointed, and to appeal to the judgment of the Roman people: he +did not dread popular odium so much as not to place any hope in the +fairness and compassion of his fellow-citizens. But if he were led to +prison without being heard, that he once more appealed to the tribunes +of the people, and warned them not to imitate those whom they hated. +But if the tribunes acknowledged themselves bound by the same +agreement for abolishing the right of appeal, which they charged the +decemvirs with having conspired to form, then he appealed to the +people, he implored the aid of the laws passed that very year, both by +the consuls and tribunes, regarding the right of appeal. For who +would there be to appeal, if this were not allowed a person as yet +uncondemned, whose case had not been heard? What plebeian or humble +individual would find protection in the laws, if Appius Claudius +could not? That he would be a proof whether tyranny or liberty was +established by the new laws, and whether the right of appeal and of +challenge against the injustice of magistrates was only held out in +idle words, or really granted. + +Verginius, on the other hand, affirmed that Appius Claudius was the +only person who had no part or share in the laws, or in any covenant +civil or human. Men should look to the tribunal, the fortress of all +villainies, where that perpetual decemvir, venting his fury on the +property, person, and life of the citizens, threatening all with his +rods and axes, a despiser of gods and men, surrounded by men who were +executioners, not lictors, turning his thoughts from rapine and murder +to lust, tore a free-born maiden, as if she had been a prisoner of +war, from the embraces of her father, before the eyes of the Roman +people, and gave her as a present to a dependent, the minister to his +secret pleasures: where too by a cruel decree, and a most outrageous +decision, he armed the right hand of the father against the daughter: +where he ordered the betrothed and uncle, on their raising the +lifeless body of the girl, to be led away to prison, affected more by +the interruption of his lust than by her death: that the prison was +built for him also which he was wont to call the domicile of the Roman +commons. Wherefore, though he might appeal again and again, he himself +would again and again propose a judge, to try him on the charge of +having sentenced a free person to slavery; if he would not go before a +judge, he ordered him to be taken to prison as one already condemned. +He was thrown into prison, though without the disapprobation of any +individual, yet not without considerable emotion of the public mind, +since, in consequence of the punishment by itself of so distinguished +a man, their own liberty began to be considered by the commons +themselves as excessive.[63] + +The tribunes adjourned the day of trial. + +Meanwhile, ambassadors from the Hernicans and Latins came to Rome +to offer their congratulations on the harmony existing between the +patricians and commons, and as an offering on that account to Jupiter, +best and greatest, they brought into the Capitol a golden crown, of +small weight, as money at that time was not plentiful, and the duties +of religion were performed rather with piety than splendour. On the +same authority it was ascertained that the Aequans and Volscians were +preparing for war with the utmost energy. The consuls were therefore +ordered to divide the provinces between them. The Sabines fell to the +lot of Horatius, the AEquans to Valerius. After they had proclaimed a +levy for these wars, through the good offices of the commons, not only +the younger men, but a large number, consisting of volunteers from +among those who had served their time,[64] attended to give in their +names: and hence the army was stronger not only in the number but also +in the quality of its soldiers, owing to the admixture of veterans. +Before they marched out of the city, they engraved on brass, and fixed +up in public view, the decemviral laws, which are named "the twelve +tables." There are some who state that the aediles discharged that +office by order of the tribunes. + +Gaius Claudius, who, detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and, above +all, incensed at the arrogant conduct of his brother-in-law, had +retired to Regillum, his ancestral home. Though advanced in years, he +now returned to the City, to deprecate the dangers threatening the man +whose vicious practices had driven him into retirement. Going down to +the Forum in mourning garb, accompanied by the members of his house +and by his clients, he appealed to the citizens individually, and +implored them not to stain the house of the Claudii with such an +indelible disgrace as to deem them worthy of bonds and imprisonment. +To think that a man whose image would be held in highest honour +by posterity, the framer of their laws and the founder of Roman +jurisprudence, should be lying manacled amongst nocturnal thieves and +robbers! Let them turn their thoughts for a moment from feelings of +exasperation to calm examination and reflection, and forgive one man +at the intercession of so many of the Claudii, rather than through +their hatred of one man despise the prayers of many. So far he himself +would go for the honour of his family and his name, but he was not +reconciled to the man whose distressed condition he was anxious to +relieve. By courage their liberties had been recovered, by clemency +the harmony of the orders in the State could be strengthened. Some +were moved, but it was more by the affection he showed for his nephew +than by any regard for the man for whom he was pleading. But Verginius +begged them with tears to keep their compassion for him and his +daughter, and not to listen to the prayers of the Claudii, who had +assumed sovereign power over the plebs, but to the three tribunes, +kinsmen of Verginia, who, after being elected to protect the +plebeians, were now seeking their protection. This appeal was felt to +have more justice in it. All hope being now cut off, Appius put an end +to his life before the day of trial came. + +Soon after Sp. Oppius was arraigned by P. Numitorius. He was only +less detested than Appius, because he had been in the City when his +colleague pronounced the iniquitous judgment. More indignation, +however, was aroused by an atrocity which Oppius had committed than +by his not having prevented one. A witness was produced, who after +reckoning up twenty-seven years of service, and eight occasions on +which he had been decorated for conspicuous bravery, appeared before +the people wearing all his decorations. Tearing open his dress he +exhibited his back lacerated with stripes. He asked for nothing but a +proof on Oppius' part of any single charge against him; if such proof +were forthcoming, Oppius, though now only a private citizen, might +repeat all his cruelty towards him. Oppius was taken to prison and +there, before the day of trial, he put an end to his life. His +property and that of Claudius were confiscated by the tribunes. Their +colleagues changed their domicile by going into exile; their property +also was confiscated. M. Claudius, who had been the claimant of +Verginia, was tried and condemned; Verginius himself, however, refused +to press for the extreme penalty, so he was allowed to go into exile +to Tibur. Verginia was more fortunate after her death than in her +lifetime; her shade, after wandering through so many houses in quest +of expiatory penalties, at length found rest, not one guilty person +being now left. + +Great alarm seized the patricians; the looks of the tribunes were +now as menacing as those of the decemvirs had been. M. Duillius the +tribune imposed a salutary check upon their excessive exercise of +authority. "We have gone," he said, "far enough in the assertion of +our liberty and the punishment of our opponents, so for this year +I will allow no man to be brought to trial or cast into prison. I +disapprove of old crimes, long forgotten, being raked up, now that the +recent ones have been atoned for by the punishment of the decemvirs. +The unceasing care which both the consuls are taking to protect your +liberties is a guarantee that nothing will be done which will call for +the power of the tribunes." This spirit of moderation shown by the +tribune relieved the fears of the patricians, but it also intensified +their resentment against the consuls, for they seemed to be so wholly +devoted to the plebs, that the safety and liberty of the patricians +were a matter of more immediate concern to the plebeian than they were +to the patrician magistrates. It seemed as though their adversaries +would grow weary of inflicting punishment on them sooner than the +consuls would curb their insolence. It was pretty generally asserted +that they had shown weakness, since their laws had been sanctioned by +the senate, and no doubt was entertained that they had yielded to the +pressure of circumstances. + +After matters had been settled in the City and the position of the +plebs firmly assured, the consuls left for their respective provinces. +Valerius wisely suspended operations against the armies of the Aequans +and the Volscians, which had now united at Algidum: whereas, if he had +immediately intrusted the issue to fortune, I am inclined to think +that, considering the feelings both of the Romans and of their enemies +at that time, after the unfavourable auspices of the decemvirs,[65] +the contest would have cost him heavy loss. Having pitched his camp +at the distance of a mile from the enemy, he kept his men quiet. The +enemy filled the space lying between the two camps with their army +in order of battle, and not a single Roman made answer when they +challenged them to fight. At length, wearied with standing and waiting +in vain for a contest, the Aequans and Volscians, considering that the +victory was almost yielded to them, went off some to Hernican, others +to Latin territory, to commit depredations. There was left in the camp +rather a garrison for its defence than sufficient force for a contest. +When the consul perceived this, he in turn inspired the terror which +his own men had previously felt, and having drawn up his troops in +order of battle on his side, provoked the enemy to fight. When they, +conscious of their lack of forces, declined battle, the courage of the +Romans immediately increased, and they considered them vanquished, +as they stood panic-stricken within their rampart. Having stood +throughout the day eager for the contest, they retired at night. And +the Romans, now full of hope, set about refreshing themselves. The +enemy, in by no means equal spirits, being now anxious, despatched +messengers in every direction to recall the plundering parties. + +Those in the nearest places returned: those who were farther off were +not found. When day dawned, the Romans left the camp, determined on +assaulting the rampart, unless an opportunity of fighting presented +itself; and when the day was now far advanced, and no movement was +made by the enemy, the consul ordered an advance; and the troops being +put in motion, the Aequans and Volscians were seized with indignation, +at the thought that victorious armies had to be defended by a rampart +rather than by valour and arms. Wherefore they also earnestly demanded +the signal for battle from their generals, and received it. And now +half of them had got out of the gates, and the others in succession +were marching in order, as they went down each to his own post, when +the Roman consul, before the enemy's line, supported by their entire +strength, could get into close order, advanced upon them; and having +attacked them before they were all as yet led forth, and before those, +who were, had their lines properly drawn out, he fell upon them, +a crowd almost beginning to waver, as they ran from one place to +another, and gazed around upon themselves, and looked eagerly for +their friends, the shouts and violent attack adding to the already +panic-stricken condition of their minds. The enemy at first gave way; +then, having rallied their spirits, when their generals on every side +reproachfully asked them, whether they intended to yield to vanquished +foes, the battle was restored. + +On the other side, the consul desired the Romans to remember that on +that day, for the first time, they fought as free men in defence of +Rome, now a free city. That it was for themselves they were about to +conquer, not to become, when victorious, the prize of the decemvirs. +That it was not under the command of Appius that operations were +being conducted, but under their consul Valerius, descended from the +liberators of the Roman people, himself their liberator. Let them show +that in former battles it had been the fault of the generals and not +of the soldiers, that they did not conquer. That it was shameful to +have exhibited more courage against their own countrymen than against +their enemies, and to have dreaded slavery more at home than abroad. +That Verginia was the only person whose chastity had been in danger +in time of peace; that Appius had been the only citizen of dangerous +lust. But if the fortune of war should turn against them, the children +of all would be in danger from so many thousands of enemies; that he +was unwilling to forebode what neither Jupiter nor their father Mars +would be likely to suffer to befall a city built under such auspices. +He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount; that they +should bring back dominion unimpaired to that spot, where their +liberty had been won but a few months before; and that they should +show that the Roman soldiers retained the same disposition after the +expulsion of the decemvirs, as they had possessed before they +were appointed, and that the valour of the Roman people had not +deteriorated after the laws had been equalized. After he uttered these +words among the battalions of the infantry, he hurried from them to +the cavalry. "Come, young men," said he, "show yourselves superior to +the infantry in valour, as you already are their superiors in honour +and in rank. The infantry at the first onset have made the enemy give +way; now that they have given way, do you give reins to your horses +and drive them from the field. They will not stand your charge; even +now they rather hesitate than resist." They spurred on their horses, +and charged at full speed against the enemy, who were already thrown +into confusion by the attack of the infantry: and having broken +through the ranks, some dashing on to the rear of their line, others +wheeling about in the open space from the flanks, turned most of them +away from the camp as they were now flying in all directions, and by +riding beyond them headed them off. The line of infantry, the consul +himself, and the whole onset of the battle was borne toward the camp, +and having taken it with considerable slaughter, he got possession of +still more considerable booty. The fame of this battle, carried not +only to the city, but to the other army also in Sabine territory, was +welcomed in the city with public rejoicing; in the camp, it inspirited +the soldiers to emulate such glory. Horatius, by training them in +sallies, and making trial of them in slight skirmishes, had accustomed +them to trust in themselves rather than remember the ignominy incurred +under the command of the decemvirs, and these trifling engagements had +greatly contributed to the successful consummation of their hopes. The +Sabines, elated at their success in the preceding year, ceased not +to provoke and urge them to fight, constantly asking why they wasted +time, sallying forth in small numbers and returning like marauders, +and why they distributed the issue of a single war over a number of +engagements, and those of no importance. Why did they not meet them in +the field, and intrust to fortune the decision of the matter once and +for all? + +Besides that they had already of themselves recovered sufficient +courage, the Romans were fired with exasperation at the thought that +the other army would soon return victorious to the city; that the +enemy were now wantonly affronting them with insolence: when, +moreover, would they be a match for the enemy, if they were not so +then? When the consul ascertained that the soldiers loudly expressed +these sentiments in the camp, having summoned an assembly, he spoke +as follows: "How matters have fared in Algidum, I suppose that you, +soldiers, have already heard. As became the army of the free people +to behave, so have they behaved; through the good judgment of my +colleague and the valour of the soldiers, the victory has been gained. +For my part, I shall display the same judgment and determination as +you yourselves, O soldiers, display. The war may either be prolonged +with advantage, or be brought to a speedy conclusion. If it is to be +prolonged, I shall take care, by employing the same method of warfare +with which I have begun, that your hopes and your valour may increase +every day. If you have now sufficient courage, and it is your wish +that the matter be decided, come, raise here a shout such as you will +raise in the field of battle, in token both of your wishes and your +valour." Whenthe shout was raised with great alacrity, he assured them +that he would comply with their wishes--and so might Heaven prosper +it--and lead them next day into the field. The remainder of the day +was spent in getting ready their arms. On the following day, as soon +as the Sabines saw the Roman army being drawn up in order of battle, +they too, having long since been eager for the encounter, advanced. +The battle was one such as would be fought between two armies who both +had confidence in themselves, the one on account of its long-standing +and unbroken career of glory, the other recently elated by its unusual +success. The Sabines aided their strength also by stratagem; for, +having formed a line equal to that of the Romans, they kept two +thousand men in reserve, to make an attack on the left wing of the +Romans in the heat of the battle. When these, by an attack in flank, +were on the point of overpowering that wing, now almost surrounded, +about six hundred of the cavalry of two legions leaped down from their +horses, and, as their men were giving way, rushed forward in front, +and at the same time both opposed the advance of the enemy, and roused +the courage of the infantry, first by sharing the danger equally with +them, and then by arousing in them a sense of shame. It was a matter +of shame that the cavalry should fight in their own proper fashion and +in that of others, and that the infantry should not be equal to the +cavalry even when dismounted.[66] + +They marched therefore to the fight, which had been suspended on their +part, and endeavoured to regain the ground which they had lost, and in +a moment not only was the battle restored, but one of the wings of +the Sabines gave way. The cavalry, protected between the ranks of the +infantry, remounted their horses; they then galloped across to the +other division to announce their success to their party; at the same +time also they charged the enemy, now disheartened by the discomfiture +of their stronger wing. The valour of none shone forth more +conspicuous in that battle. The consul provided for all emergencies; +he applauded the brave, rebuked wherever the battle seemed to slacken. +When reproved, they displayed immediately the deeds of brave men; and +a sense of shame stimulated these, as much as praises the others. The +shout being raised anew, all together making a united effort, drove +the enemy back; nor could the Roman attack be any longer resisted. + +The Sabines, driven in every direction through the country, left their +camp behind them for the enemy to plunder. There the Romans recovered +the effects, not of the allies, as at Algidum, but their own property, +which had been lost by the devastations of their lands. For this +double victory, gained in two battles, in two different places, the +senate in a niggardly spirit merely decreed thanksgivings in the name +of the consuls for one day only. The people went, however, on the +second day also, in great numbers of their own accord to offer +thanksgiving; and this unauthorized and popular thanksgiving, owing to +their zeal, was even better attended. The consuls by agreement came +to the city within the same two days, and summoned the senate to +the Campius Martius.[67] When they were there relating the services +performed by themselves, the chiefs of the patricians complained that +the senate was designedly convened among the soldiers for the purpose +of intimidation. The consuls, therefore, that there might be no room +for such a charge, called away the senate to the Flaminian meadows, +where the Temple of Apollo now is (even then it was called the +Apollinare). There, when a triumph was refused by a large majority +of the patricians, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the commons, brought a +proposition before the people regarding the triumph of the consuls, +many persons coming forward to argue against the measure, but in +particular Gaius Claudius, who exclaimed, that it was over the senate, +not over the enemy, that the consuls wished to triumph; and that it +was intended as a return for a private service to a tribune, and not +as an honour due to valour. That never before had the matter of a +triumph been managed through the people; but that the consideration of +that honour and the disposal of it, had always rested with the senate; +that not even the kings had infringed on the majesty of this most +august body. The tribunes should not so occupy every department with +their own authority, as to allow the existence of no public council; +that the state would be free, and the laws equalized by these means +only, if each order retained its own rights and its own dignity. After +much had been said by the other senior patricians also to the same +purpose, all the tribes approved the proposition. Then for the first +time a triumph was celebrated by order of the people, without the +authority of the senate. + +This victory of the tribunes and people was well-nigh terminating in +an extravagance by no means salutary, a conspiracy being formed among +the tribunes that the same tribunes might be re-elected, and, in +order that their own ambition might be the less conspicuous, that +the consuls also might have their office prolonged. They pleaded, in +excuse, the combination of the patricians by which the privileges of +the commons were attempted to be undermined by the affronts of the +consuls. What would be the consequence, when the laws were as yet not +firmly established, if they attacked the new tribunes through consuls +of their own party? Men like Horatius and Valerius would not always be +consuls, who would regard their own interests as secondary after the +liberty of the people. By some concurrence of circumstances, useful in +view of the situation, it fell by lot to Marcus Duillius before +all others to preside at the elections, a man of prudence, and who +perceived the storm of public odium that was hanging over them from +the continuance of their office. And when he declared that he would +take no account of any of the former tribunes, and his colleagues +struggled to get him to allow the tribes to vote independently, or to +give up the office of presiding at the elections, which he held by +lot, to his colleagues, who would hold the elections according to law +rather than according to the pleasure of the patricians; a contention +being now excited, when Duillius had sent for the consuls to his +seat and asked them what they contemplated doing with respect to the +consular elections, and they answered that they would appoint new +consuls; then, having secured popular supporters of a measure by no +means popular, he proceeded with them into the assembly. There the +consuls were brought forward before the people, and asked what they +would do if the Roman people mindful of their liberty recovered at +home through them, mindful also of their services in war, should again +elect them consuls: and when they in no way changed their opinions, +he held the election, after eulogizing the consuls, because they +persevered to the last in being unlike the decemvirs; and five +tribunes of the people having been elected, when, through the zealous +exertions of the nine tribunes who openly pressed their canvass, the +other candidates could not make up the required number of tribes, he +dismissed the assembly; nor did he hold one afterward for the purpose +of an election. He said that the law had been satisfied, which, +without any number being anywhere specified, only enacted that +tribunes who had been elected should be left to choose their +colleagues and confirmed those chosen by them. He then went on to +recite the formula of the law, in which it was laid down: "If I shall +propose for election ten tribunes of the commons, if from any cause +you shall elect this day less than ten tribunes of the people, then +that those whom they may have chosen as colleagues for themselves, +that these, I say, be legitimate tribunes of the people on the same +conditions as those whom you shall on this day have elected tribunes +of the people." When Duillius persevered to the last, stating that the +republic could not have fifteen tribunes of the people, having baffled +the ambition of his colleagues, he resigned office, equally approved +of by patricians and commons. + +The new tribunes of the people, in electing their colleagues +endeavoured to gratify the wishes of the patricians; they even elected +two who were patricians,[68] and men of consular rank Spurius Tarpeius +and Aulus Aternius. The consuls elected, Spurius Herminius, Titus +Verginius Caelimontanus, not being specially inclined to the cause +either of the patricians or commons, had perfect tranquillity both at +home and abroad. Lucius Trebonius, tribune of the commons, incensed +against the patricians, because, as he said, he had been imposed on +by them in the matter of choosing tribunes, and betrayed by his +colleagues, brought forward a proposal, that whoever proposed he +election of tribunes of the people before the commons, should go on +taking the votes, until he elected ten tribunes of the people; and he +spent his tribuneship in worrying the patricians, whence the surname +of Asper was given him. Next Marcus Geganius Macerinus, and Gaius +Julius, being elected consuls, quieted some disputes that had arisen +between the tribunes and the youth of the nobility, without displaying +any harshness against that power, and at the same time preserving the +dignity of the patricians. By proclaiming a levy for the war against +the Volscians and AEquans, they kept the people from riots by keeping +matters in abeyance, affirming that everything was also quiet abroad, +owing to the harmony in the city, and that it was only through civil +discord that foreign foes took courage. Their anxiety for peace abroad +was also the cause of harmony at home. But notwithstanding, the one +order ever attacked the moderation of the other. Acts of injustice +began to be committed by the younger patricians on the commons, +although the latter kept perfectly quiet. Where the tribunes assisted +the more humble, in the first place it accomplished little: and +thereafter they did not even themselves escape ill-treatment: +particularly in the latter months, when injustice was committed +through the combinations among the more powerful, and the power of the +office became considerably weaker in the latter part of the year. And +now the commons placed some hopes in the tribuneship, if only they +could get tribunes like Icilius: for the last two years they declared +that they had only had mere names. On the other hand, the elder +members of the patrician order, though they considered their young men +to be too overbearing, yet preferred, if bounds were to be exceeded, +that a superabundance of spirit should be exhibited by their own order +rather than by their adversaries. So difficult a thing is moderation +in maintaining liberty, while every one, by pretending to desire +equality, exalts himself in such a manner as to put down another, +and men, by their very precautions against fear, cause themselves to +become objects of dread: and we saddle on others injustice repudiated +on our own account, as if it were absolutely necessary either to +commit injustice or to submit to it. Titus Quinctius Capitolinus for +the fourth time and Agrippa Furius being then elected consuls, found +neither disturbance at home nor war abroad; both, however, were +impending. The discord of the citizens could now no longer be checked, +both tribunes and commons being exasperated against the patricians, +while, if a day of trial was appointed for any of the nobility, it +always embroiled the assemblies in new struggles. On the first report +of these the AEquans and Volscians, as if they had received a signal, +took up arms; also because their leaders, eager for plunder, had +persuaded them that the levy proclaimed two years previously could not +be proceeded with, as the commons now refused obedience to military +authority: that for that reason no armies had been sent against them; +that military discipline was subverted by licentiousness, and that +Rome was no longer considered a common country for its citizens; that +whatever resentment and animosity they might have entertained +against foreigners, was now directed against themselves; that now an +opportunity offered itself for destroying wolves blinded by intestine +rage. Having united their forces, they first utterly laid waste the +Latin territory: when none met them to avenge the wrong, then indeed, +to the great exultation of the advisers of the war, they approached +the very walls of Rome, carrying their depredations into the district +around the Esquiline gate[69] pointing out to the city in mocking +insult the devastation of the land. When they marched back thence to +Corbio unmolested and driving their booty before them, Quinctius the +consul summoned the people to an assembly. + +There I find that he spoke to this effect: "Though I am conscious to +myself of no fault, Quirites, yet it is with the greatest shame I have +come forward to your assembly. To think that you should know this, +that this should be handed down on record to posterity, that the +AEquans and Volscians a short time since scarcely a match for the +Hernicans, have with impunity come with arms in their hands to the +walls of Rome, in the fourth consulate of Titus Quinctius! Had I known +that this disgrace was reserved for this year, above all others, +though we have now long been living in such a manner, and such is the +state of affairs, that my mind can forebode nothing good, I would have +avoided this honour either by exile or by death, if there had been no +other means of escaping it. Then, if men of courage had held those +arms, which were at our gates, Rome could have been taken during my +consulate. I have had sufficient honours, enough and more than enough +of life: I ought to have died in my third consulate. Whom, I pray, did +these most dastardly enemies despise? Us, consuls, or you, Quirites? +If the fault lies in us, take away the command from those who are +unworthy of it; and, if that is not enough, further inflict punishment +on us. If the fault is yours, may there be none of gods or men to +punish your offences: do you yourselves only repent of them. It is not +your cowardice they have despised, nor their own valour that they have +put their trust in: having been so often routed and put to flight, +stripped of their camp, mulcted in their land, sent under the yoke, +they know both themselves and you. It is the discord among the several +orders that is the curse of this city, the contests between the +patricians and commons. While we have neither bounds in the pursuit of +power, nor you in that of liberty, while you are wearied of patrician, +we of plebeian magistrates, they have taken courage. In the name of +Heaven, what would you have? You desired tribunes of the commons; we +granted them for the sake of concord. You longed for decemvirs; +we suffered them to be created. You became weary of decemvirs; we +compelled them to resign office. Your resentment against these same +persons when they became private citizens still continuing, we +suffered men of the highest family and rank to die or go into exile. +You wished asecond time to create tribunes of the commons; you created +them. You wished to elect consuls attached to your party; and, +although we saw that it was unjust to the patricians, we have even +resigned ourselves to see a patrician magistracy conceded as an +offering to the people. The aid of tribunes, right of appeal to the +people, the acts of the commons made binding on the patricians under +the pretext of equalizing the laws, the subversion of our privileges, +we have endured and still endure. What end is there to be to our +dissensions? When shall it be allowed us to have a united city, one +common country? We, when defeated, submit with greater resignation +than you when victorious. Is it enough for you, that you are objects +of terror to us? The Aventine is taken against us: against us the +Sacred Mount is seized. When the Esquiline was almost taken by the +enemy, no one defended it, and when the Volscian foe was scaling the +rampart, no one drove him off: it is against us you behave like men, +against us you are armed. + +"Come, when you have blockaded the senate-house here, and have made +the forum the seat of war, and filled the prison with the leading men +of the state, march forth through the Esquiline gate, with that same +determined spirit; or, if you do not even venture thus far, behold +from your walls your lands laid waste with fire and sword, booty +driven off, houses set on fire in every direction and smoking. But, I +may be told, it is only the public weal that is in a worse condition +through this: the land is burned, the city is besieged, the glory of +the war rests with the enemy. What in the name of Heaven--what is the +state of your own private affairs? Even now to each of you his own +private losses from the country will be announced. What, pray, is +there at home, whence you can recruit them? Will the tribunes restore +and re-establish what you have lost? Of sound and words they will heap +on you as much as you please, and of charges against the leading men, +laws one after another, and public meetings. But from these meetings +never has one of you returned home more increased in substance or in +fortune. Has any one ever brought back to his wife and children aught +save hatred, quarrels, grudges public and private, from which you may +ever be protected, not by your own valour and integrity, but by the +aid of others? But, by Hercules! When you served under the command of +us consuls, not under tribunes, in the camp and not in the forum, and +the enemy trembled at your shout in the field of battle, not the Roman +patricians in the assembly, having gained booty and taken land from +the enemy, loaded with wealth and glory, both public and private, you +used to return home in triumph to your household gods: now you allow +the enemy to go off laden with your property. Continue fast bound to +your assemblies, live in the forum; the necessity of taking the field, +which you strive to escape, still follows you. It was hard on you to +march against the AEquans and the Volscians: the war is at your gates: +if it is not driven from thence, it will soon be within your walls, +and will scale the citadel and Capitol, and follow you into your very +houses. Two years ago the senate ordered a levy to be held, and an +army to be marched out to Algidum; yet we sit down listless at home, +quarrelling with each other like women, delighting in present peace, +and not seeing that after that short-lived inactivity war will return +with interest. That there are other topics more pleasing than these, +I well know; but even though my own mind did not prompt me to it, +necessity obliges me to speak the truth rather than what is pleasing. +I would indeed like to meet with your approval, Quirites; but I am +much more anxious that you should be preserved, whatever sentiments +you shall entertain toward me. It has been so ordained by nature, that +he who addresses a crowd for his own private interest, is more welcome +than the man whose mind has nothing in view but the public interest +unless perhaps you suppose that those public sycophants those +flatterers of the commons, who neither suffer you to take up arms nor +to live in peace, excite and work you up for your own interests. When +excited, you are to them sources either of position or of profit: and, +because, when the orders are in accord, they see that they themselves +are of no importance in anything, they prefer to be leaders of a bad +cause, of tumults and sedition, rather than of no cause at all. If +you can at last become wearied of all this, and if you are willing to +resume the habits practised by your forefathers of old, and formerly +by yourselves, in place of these new ones, I am ready to submit to +any punishment, if I do not in a few days rout and put to flight, and +strip of their camp those devastators of our lands, and transfer from +our gates and walls to their cities this terror of war, by which you +are now thrown into consternation." + +Scarcely ever was the speech of a popular tribune more acceptable to +the commons than this of a most austere consul on that occasion. The +young men also, who, during such alarms, had been accustomed to employ +the refusal to enlist as the sharpest weapon against the patricians, +began to turn their attention to war and arms: and the flight of the +rustics, and those who had been robbed and wounded in the country, by +announcing events more revolting even than what was before their eyes, +filled the whole city with exasperation. When they came into the +senate, there all, turning to Quinctius, looked upon him as the only +champion of the majesty of Rome: and the leading senators declared +that his harangue was worthy of the consular authority, worthy of so +many consulships formerly borne by him, worthy of his whole life, full +of honours frequently enjoyed, more frequently deserved. That other +consuls had either flattered the commons by betraying the dignity of +the patricians, or by harshly maintaining the rights of their order, +had rendered the multitude more exasperated by their efforts to subdue +them: that Titus Quinctius had delivered a speech mindful of the +dignity of the patricians, of the concord of the different orders, +and above all, of the needs of the times. They entreated him and his +colleague to assume the management of the commonwealth; they entreated +the tribunes, by acting in concert with the consuls, to join in +driving back the war from the city and the walls, and to induce the +commons to be obedient to the senate at so perilous a conjuncture: +declaring that, their lands being devastated, and their city in a +manner besieged, their common country appealed to them as tribunes, +and implored their aid. By universal consent the levy was decreed and +held. When the consuls gave public notice that there was no time for +considering claims for exemption; that all the young men should attend +on the following morning at dawn in the Campus Martius; that when the +war was over, they would afford time for inquiring into the excuses of +those who had not given in their names; that the man should be held +as a deserter, whose excuse they found unsatisfactory; all the youth +attended on the following day. The cohorts [70] chose each their +centurions: two senators were placed at the head of each cohort. +We have read that all these measures were carried out with such +expedition that the standards, which had been brought forth from the +treasury on that very day by the quaestors and conveyed to the Campus, +started from thence at the fourth hour; and the newly-raised army +halted at the tenth milestone, followed only by a few cohorts of +veteran soldiers as volunteers. The following day brought the enemy +within sight, and camp was joined to camp near Corbio. On the third +day, when resentment urged on the Romans, and a consciousness of guilt +for having so often rebelled and a feeling of despair, the others, +there was no delay in coming to an engagement. + +In the Roman army, though the two consuls were invested with equal +authority, the supreme command was, by the concession of Agrippa, +resigned to his colleague, an arrangement most salutary in the conduct +of matters of great importance; and he who was preferred made a polite +return for the ready condescension of the other, who thus lowered +himself, by making him his confidant in all his plans and sharing with +him his honours, and by putting him on an equality with him although +he was by no means as capable. On the field of battle Quinctius +commanded the right, Agrippa the left wing; the command of the centre +was intrusted to Spurius Postumius Albus, as lieutenant-general. +Publius Sulpicius, the other lieutenant-general, was placed at the +head of the cavalry. The infantry on the right wing fought with +distinguished valour, while the Volscians offered a stout resistance. +Publius Sulpicius with his cavalry broke through the centre of the +enemy's line; and, though he might have returned thence in the same +way to his own party, before the enemy restored their broken ranks, +it seemed more advisable to attack them in the rear, and in a moment, +charging the line in the rear, he would have dispersed the enemy by +the double attack, had not the cavalry of the Volscians and AEquans +kept him for some time engaged by a mode of fighting like his own. +Then indeed Sulpicius declared that there was no time for delay, +crying out that they were surrounded and would be cut off from their +own friends, unless they united all their efforts and despatched the +engagement with the cavalry. Nor was it enough to rout the enemy +without disabling them; they must slay horses and men, that none might +return to the fight or renew the battle; that these could not resist +them, before whom a compact body of infantry had given way. His orders +were addressed to no deaf ears; by a single charge they routed the +entire cavalry, dismounted great numbers, and killed with their +javelins both the riders and the horses. Thus ended the cavalry +engagement. Then, having attacked the enemy's infantry, they sent an +account to the consuls of what had been done, where the enemy's line +was already giving way. The news both gave fresh courage to the +Romans who were now gaining the day, and dismayed the AEquans who were +beginning to give way. They first began to be beaten in the centre, +where the furious charge of the cavalry had broken their ranks. Then +the left wing began to lose ground before the consul Quinctius; the +contest was most obstinate on the right. Then Agrippa, in the vigour +of his youth and strength, seeing matters going more favourably in +every part of the battle than in his own quarter, snatched some of the +standards from the standard-bearers and carried them on himself, some +even he began to throw into the thick of the enemy.[71] + +The soldiers, urged on by the fear of this disgrace, attacked the +enemy; thus the victory was equalized in every quarter. News then came +from Quinctius that he, being now victorious, was about to attack +the enemy's camp; that he was unwilling to break into it, before he +learned that they were beaten in the left wing also. If he had routed +the enemy, let him now join him, that all the army together might +take possession of the booty. Agrippa, being victorious, with mutual +congratulations advanced toward his victorious colleague and the +enemy's camp. There, as there were but few to defend it, and these +were routed in a moment they broke into the fortifications without a +struggle, and marched back the army, in possession of abundant spoil, +having recovered also their own effects, which had been lost by the +devastation of the lands. I have not heard that they either themselves +demanded a triumph, or that one was offered to them by the senate; nor +is any cause assigned for the honour being either overlooked or not +hoped for. As far as I can conjecture at so great a distance of time, +since a triumph had been refused to the consuls Horatius and Valerius, +who, in addition to the victory over the AEquans and Volscians, had +gained the glory of having also finished the Sabine war, the consuls +were ashamed to demand a triumph for one half of the services done by +them, lest, even if they should have obtained it, regard might appear +to have been paid to persons rather than to merit. + +A disgraceful decision of the people regarding the boundaries of their +allies marred the honourable victory obtained over their enemies. The +people of Aricia [72] and of Ardea, who had frequently contended in +arms concerning a disputed piece of land, wearied out by many losses +on either side, appointed the Roman people as arbitrators. When they +arrived to support their claims, an assembly of the people being +granted them by the magistrates, the matter was debated with great +warmth. The witnesses being now produced, when it was time for the +tribes to be called, and for the people to give their votes, Publius +Scaptius, a plebeian advanced in years, rose up and said, "Consuls, if +it is permitted me to speak on the public interest, I will not suffer +the people to be led into a mistake in this matter." When the consuls +said that he, as unworthy of attention, ought not to be heard, and, on +his shouting that the public interest was being betrayed, ordered him +to be put aside, he appealed to the tribunes. The tribunes, as they +are nearly always directed by the multitude rather than direct it, +granted Scaptius leave to say what he pleased in deference to the +people, who were anxious to hear him. He then began: That he was now +in his eighty-third year, and that he had served in that district +which was now in dispute, not even then a young man, as he was already +serving in his twentieth campaign, when operations were going on at +Corioli. He therefore brought forward a fact forgotten by length of +time--one, however, deeply fixed in his memory, namely, that the +district now in dispute had belonged to the territory of Corioli, and, +after the taking of Corioli, it had become come by right of war the +public property of the Roman people. That he was surprised how the +states of Ardea and Aricia could have the face to hope to deprive the +Roman people, whom instead of lawful owners they had made arbitrators; +of a district the right of which they had never claimed while the +state of Corioli existed. That he for his part had but a short time +to live; he could not, however, bring himself, old as he now was, to +desist claiming by his voice, the only means he now had, a district +which, as a soldier, he had contributed to acquire, as far as a man +could. That he strenuously advised the people not to ruin their own +interest by an idle feeling of delicacy. + +The consuls, when they perceived that Scaptius was listened to not +only in silence, but even with approbation, calling gods and men to +witness, that a disgraceful enormity was being committed, summoned +the principal senators: with them they went round to the tribes, +entreated, that, as judges, they would not be guilty of a most heinous +crime, with a still worse precedent, by converting the subject of +dispute to their own interest, more especially when, even though it +may be lawful for a judge to look after his own interest, so much +would by no means be acquired by keeping the land, as would be lost by +alienating the affections of their allies by injustice; for that the +loss of reputation and confidence was of greater importance than could +be estimated. Was this the answer the ambassadors were to carry home; +was this to go out to the world; were their allies to hear this; were +their enemies to hear it--with what sorrow the one--with what joy the +other? Could they suppose that the neighbouring states would ascribe +this proceeding to Scaptius, an old babbler at assemblies? That +Scaptius would be rendered distinguished by this statue: but that the +Roman people would assume the character of a corrupt informer [73] +and appropriator of the claims of others. For what judge in a private +cause ever acted in such a way as to adjudge to himself the property +in dispute? That even Scaptius himself would not act so, though he had +now outlived all sense of shame. Thus the consuls, thus the senators +exclaimed; but covetousness, and Scaptius, the adviser of that +covetousness, had more influence. The tribes, when convened, decided +that the district was the public property of the Roman people. Nor can +it be denied that it might have been so, if they had gone to other +judges; but, as it is, the infamy of the decision is not in any +way diminished by the justice of the cause: nor did it appear more +disgraceful or more repulsive to the people of Aricia and of Ardea, +than it did to the Roman senate. The remainder of the year continued +free from disturbances both at home and abroad. [74] + + +Footnotes: + +[Footnote 1: The ager publicus or public land consisted of the landed +estates which had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land +taken from enemies who had been captured in war. The patricians had +gained exclusive occupation of this, for which they paid a nominal +rent in the shape of produce and tithes: the state, however, still +retained the right of disposal of it. By degrees the ager publicus +fell into the hands of a few rich individuals, who were continually +buying up smaller estates, which were cultivated by slaves, thus +reducing the number of free agricultural labourers.] + +[Footnote 2: Directly, rather than by lot as was usual.] + +[Footnote 4: In later times the censor performed this office.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 5: This decree was practically a bestowal of absolute +power.--D.O.] + +[Footnote: In later times the proconsul was the consul of the previous +year, appointed to act as such over one of the provinces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 7: This gate was on the west side, in the rear, farthest +from the enemy: it was so called from the decumanus, a line drawn from +east to west, which divided the camp into two halves: see note in +revised edition of Prendeville's Livy.] + +[Footnote 8: August 1st] + +[Footnote 9: The consular year, not the civil one, which began in +January: the time at which the consuls entered upon office varied very +much until B.C. 153, when it was finally settled that the date of +their doing so should be January 1st.] + +[Footnote 10: Called "Via Praenestina" beyond Gabii.] + +[Footnote 11: That is, broke up camp.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 12: The people of Rome had been divided in early times into +thirty curies: each of these had an officiating priest, called curio, +and the whole body was under the presidency of the curio maximus.] + +[Footnote 13: The ten leading senators held the office in rotation for +five days each, until the consular comitia were held.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 14: August 11th] + +[Footnote 15: A lesser form of triumph.] + +[Footnote 16: The Sibylline books, supposed to have been sold to +Tarquinius Superbus by the Sibyl of Cumae: they were written in Greek +hexameter verses. In times of emergency and distress they were +consulted and interpreted by special priests (the duumviri here +mentioned).] + +[Footnote 17: It will be frequently observed that the patricians +utilized their monopoly of religious offices to effect their own +ends.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 18: Curule chairs of office.] + +[Footnote 19: That is, recruits.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 20: The worst quarter of the city--its White chapel as it +were. It lay, roughly speaking, from the Forum eastward along the +valley between Esquiline and Viminial Hills.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 21: That is, to insure punishment and practically abnegate +the right an accused person had of escaping sentence by voluntary +exile.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 22: Perhaps the first bail-bond historically noted.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 23: That is, refused to accept the plea.] + +[Footnote 24: That is, defended them in court.] + +[Footnote 25: The Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol was divided into +three parts: the middle was sacred to Jupiter, the right to Minerva, +the left to Juno. By "other gods" are meant Terminus, Fides, +Juventas.] + +[Footnote 26: Publicola, the father of Brutus.] + +[Footnote 27: That is, personal violence from the young +patricians.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 28: Their control over the auspices was a favourite weapon +of the patricians, and one which could naturally be better used at +a distance from Rome. The frequency of its use would seem to argue +adaptability in the devotional feelings of the nobles at least, which +might modify our reliance upon the statement made above as to the +respect for the gods then prevalent in Rome.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 29: This was the limit of the tribunes' authority.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 30: This gate, from which at a later date the Via Appia and +the Via Latina started, stood near what is now the junction of the Via +S. Gregorio with the Vi di Porta S. Sebastiano.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 31: By drawing part of the Roman army to the defence of the +allied city.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 32: Two spears were set upright and a third lashed across. +To pass through and under this "yoke" was, among the Italian states, +the greatest indignity that could be visited upon a captured army. It +symbolized servititude in arms.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 33: This would seem to augur some treachery, unless we are +to believe that only the young men taken in the citadel were +sent under the yoke, the slaughter took place among the flying +besiegers.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 34: "Quaestors," these officers are first mentioned in Book +II, ch. xii. In early times it appears to have been part of their duty +to prosecute those guilty of treason, and to carry the punishment into +execution.] + +[Footnote 35: Evidently a new pretext for delay.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 36: A little beyond Crustumerium, on the Via Salaria.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 37: Possibly to one assigned to him officially. +Freese regards the expression as inconsistent with his alleged +poverty.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 38: A curious feature of a triumph were the disrespectful +and often scurrilous verses chanted by the soldiers at the expense of +their general--D.O.] + +[Footnote 39: The meaning of this passage is obscure. Many +explanations have been attempted, none of which, to my mind, is quite +satisfactory.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 40: Priest of Quirinus.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 41: The law forbade burial within the limits of the city +except in certain cases.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 42: That is, relinquished his right of acting as judge in +favour of the people and of popular trial.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 43: A new law was hung up in the Forum for public +perusal.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 44: As in the case of a dictator. At first half, and finally +all, of the consular lictors carried only the fasces.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 45: That is, the incumbents of the past year, now of right +private persons, their term of office having expired.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 46: The fine for non-attendance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 47: As being out of order, the senate having been convened +to consider the war.] + +[Footnote 48: Rex Sacrificulus (see note, page 73).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 49: As having been improperly convened.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 50: That is, of Valerius, but rather of Appius himself in +restraining him from precipitating matters.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 51: Appius's argument is that, if Verginia was living in a +state of slavery under Claudius, as any one might institute an action +to establish her liberty, she would be entitled to her liberty until +the matter was settled: but as she was now living under her father's +protection, and was his property by the right of the patria potestas, +and he was absent, and as other person had a right to keep or defend +her, she ought to be given up to the man who claimed to be her master, +pending her father's return.] + +[Footnote 52: Venus Cloacina (she who cleanses).--D.O.] + +[Footnote 53: On two sides of the forum were colonnades, between the +pillars of which were tradesmen's booths known as "the Old Booths" and +"the New Booths."] + +[Footnote 54: That is, to the infernal gods.] + +[Footnote 55: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome: Verginia."] + +[Footnote 56: The civilian togas.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 57: Appius Claudius, a member of their order.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 58: From the Colline gate.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 59: From whose decision an appeal would lie.] + +[Footnote 60: The church of S. Caterina de' Fernari now stands within +its lines.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 61: Evidently this could not apply to a dictator.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 62: The name consul, although used by Livy (Bk. I, ch. Ix), +was not really employed until after the period of the decemvirs. The +title in early use was praetor: it is not definitely known when the +name judex was attached to the office.] + +[Footnote 63: I question the rendering of this sentence. To read +plebis for plebi would very much improve the sense.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 64: Twenty years.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 65: The misfortunes of the previous campaign were supposed +to exert an influence on the present one.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 66: The cavalry at this period wore no defensive armour, and +carried only an ox-hide buckler and a light lance.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 67: A victorious general who had entered the city could not +afterward triumph.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 68: It was first necessary for these to be adopted into +plebeian families, as none but plebeians were eligible.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 69: It stood about where the Arch of Gallienus now +stands.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 70: Each legion was divided into ten cohorts.--D.O.] + +[Footnote 71: A not unusual method of forcing the charge, as not +only military honour but religious sentiment forbade the loss of the +standards.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 72: About twenty miles from Rome in the Alban Mountains. The +village of Ariccia occupies the site of the ancient citadel.--D. O.] + +[Footnote 73: Quadruplatores were public informers, so called because +they received a fourth part of the fine imposed: also used in a +general sense of those who tried to promote their interests by +underhand means.] + +[Footnote 74: This is one of the best of Livy's books. The story of +Verginia and of the deposition and punishment of the decemvirs is +unexcelled in historical narrative.--D.O.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Roman History, Books I-III, by Titus Livius + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN HISTORY, BOOKS I-III *** + +***** This file should be named 10828.txt or 10828.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/2/10828/ + +Produced by Jayam Subramanian, Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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